Period vs. Point

Periodnoun

A length of time.

‘There was a period of confusion following the announcement.’; ‘You'll be on probation for a six-month period.’;

Pointnoun

A discrete division of something.

Periodnoun

A period of time in history seen as a single coherent entity; an epoch, era.

‘Food rationing continued in the post-war period.’;

Pointnoun

An individual element in a larger whole; a particular detail, thought, or quality.

‘The Congress debated the finer points of the bill.’;

Periodnoun

The punctuation mark “.” (indicating the ending of a sentence or marking an abbreviation).

Pointnoun

A particular moment in an event or occurrence; a juncture.

‘There comes a point in a marathon when some people give up.’; ‘At this point in the meeting, I'd like to propose a new item for the agenda.’;

Periodnoun

The length of time during which the same characteristics of a periodic phenomenon recur, such as the repetition of a wave or the rotation of a planet.

Pointnoun

(archaic) Condition, state.

‘She was not feeling in good point.’;

Periodnoun

Female menstruation.

‘When she is on her period, she prefers not to go swimming.’;

Pointnoun

A topic of discussion or debate; a proposition.

‘I made the point that we all had an interest to protect.’;

Periodnoun

A section of an artist's, writer's (etc.) career distinguished by a given quality, preoccupation etc.

‘This is one of the last paintings Picasso created during his Blue Period.’;

Pointnoun

A focus of conversation or consideration; the main idea.

‘The point is that we should stay together, whatever happens.’;

Periodnoun

Each of the divisions into which a school day is split, allocated to a given subject or activity.

‘I have math class in second period.’;

Pointnoun

A purpose or objective, which makes something meaningful.

‘Since the decision has already been made, I see little point in further discussion.’;

Periodnoun

Each of the intervals into which various sporting events are divided.

‘Gretzky scored in the last minute of the second period.’;

Pointnoun

(obsolete) The smallest quantity of something; a jot, a whit.

Periodnoun

The length of time for a disease to run its course.

Pointnoun

(obsolete) A tiny amount of time; a moment.

Periodnoun

An end or conclusion; the final point of a process etc.

Pointnoun

A specific location or place, seen as a spatial position.

‘We should meet at a pre-arranged point.’;

Periodnoun

(rhetoric) A complete sentence, especially one expressing a single thought or making a balanced, rhythmic whole.

Pointnoun

A zero-dimensional mathematical object representing a location in one or more dimensions; something considered to have position but no magnitude or direction.

Periodnoun

(obsolete) A specific moment during a given process; a point, a stage.

Pointnoun

A full stop or other terminal punctuation mark.

Periodnoun

(chemistry) A row in the periodic table of the elements.

Pointnoun

(music) A dot or mark used to designate certain tones or time. In ancient music, it distinguished or characterized certain tones or styles (points of perfection, of augmentation, etc.). In modern music, it is placed on the right of a note to raise its value, or prolong its time, by one half.

Periodnoun

(geology) A subdivision of an era, typically lasting from tens to hundreds of millions of years, see Appendix: Geologic timescale.

Pointnoun

(by extension) A note; a tune.

Periodnoun

(genetics) A Drosophila gene, the gene product of which is involved in regulation of the circadian rhythm.

Pointnoun

A distinguishing quality or characteristic.

‘Logic isn't my strong point.’;

Periodnoun

(music) Two phrases (an antecedent and a consequent phrase).

Pointnoun

Something tiny, as a pinprick; a very small mark.

‘The stars showed as tiny points of yellow light.’;

Periodnoun

(math) The length of an interval over which a periodic function, periodic sequence or repeating decimal repeats; often the least such length.

Pointnoun

(now only in phrases) A tenth; formerly also a twelfth.

‘Possession is nine points of the law.’;

Periodnoun

(archaic) End point, conclusion.

Pointnoun

Each of the marks or strokes written above letters, especially in Semitic languages, to indicate vowels, stress etc.

Periodadjective

Designating anything from a given historical era.

‘a period car’; ‘a period TV commercial’;

Pointnoun

A unit of scoring in a game or competition.

‘The one with the most points will win the game’;

Periodadjective

Evoking, or appropriate for, a particular historical period, especially through the use of elaborate costumes and scenery.

Pointnoun

(mathematics) A decimal point (now especially when reading decimal fractions aloud).

‘10.5 is "ten point five", or ten and a half.’;

Periodinterjection

That's final; that's the end of the matter (analogous to a period ending a sentence).

‘I know you don't want to go to the dentist but your teeth need to be checked, period!’;

Pointnoun

(economics) A unit used to express differences in prices of stocks and shares.

Periodverb

To come to a period; to conclude.

Pointnoun

(typography) a unit of measure equal to 1/12 of a pica, or approximately 1/72 of an inch (exactly 1/72 of an inch in the digital era).

Periodverb

To put an end to.

Pointnoun

(UK) An electric power socket.

Periodnoun

A portion of time as limited and determined by some recurring phenomenon, as by the completion of a revolution of one of the heavenly bodies; a division of time, as a series of years, months, or days, in which something is completed, and ready to recommence and go on in the same order; as, the period of the sun, or the earth, or a comet.

Pointnoun

A unit of bearing equal to one thirty-second of a circle, i.e. 11.25°.

‘Ship ahoy, three points off the starboard bow!’;

Periodnoun

A stated and recurring interval of time; more generally, an interval of time specified or left indefinite; a certain series of years, months, days, or the like; a time; a cycle; an age; an epoch; as, the period of the Roman republic.

‘How by art to make plants more lasting than their ordinary period.’;

Pointnoun

(UK) A unit of measure for rain, equal to 0.254 mm or 0.01 of an inch.

Periodnoun

One of the great divisions of geological time; as, the Tertiary period; the Glacial period. See the Chart of Geology.

Pointnoun

A sharp extremity.

Periodnoun

The termination or completion of a revolution, cycle, series of events, single event, or act; hence, a limit; a bound; an end; a conclusion.

‘So spake the archangel Michael; then paused,As at the world's great period.’; ‘Evils which shall never end till eternity hath a period.’; ‘This is the period of my ambition.’;

Pointnoun

The sharp tip of an object.

‘Cut the skin with the point of the knife.’;

Periodnoun

A complete sentence, from one full stop to another; esp., a well-proportioned, harmonious sentence.

‘Periods are beautiful when they are not too long.’;

Pointnoun

Any projecting extremity of an object.

Periodnoun

The punctuation point [.] that marks the end of a complete sentence, or of an abbreviated word.

Pointnoun

An object which has a sharp or tapering tip.

‘His cowboy belt was studded with points.’;

Periodnoun

One of several similar sets of figures or terms usually marked by points or commas placed at regular intervals, as in numeration, in the extraction of roots, and in circulating decimals.

Pointnoun

(backgammon) Each of the twelve triangular positions in either table of a backgammon board, on which the stones are played.

Periodnoun

The time of the exacerbation and remission of a disease, or of the paroxysm and intermission.

Pointnoun

A peninsula or promontory.

Periodnoun

A complete musical sentence.

Pointnoun

The position at the front or vanguard of an advancing force.

Periodverb

To put an end to.

Pointnoun

Each of the main directions on a compass, usually considered to be 32 in number; a direction.

Periodverb

To come to a period; to conclude. [Obs.] "You may period upon this, that," etc.

Pointnoun

(nautical) The difference between two points of the compass.

‘to fall off a point’;

Periodnoun

an amount of time;

‘a time period of 30 years’; ‘hastened the period of time of his recovery’; ‘Picasso's blue period’;

Pointnoun

Pointedness of speech or writing; a penetrating or decisive quality of expression.

Periodnoun

one of three periods of play in hockey games

Pointnoun

A railroad switch.

Periodnoun

a stage in the history of a culture having a definable place in space and time;

‘a novel from the Victorian period’;

Pointnoun

An area of contrasting colour on an animal, especially a dog; a marking.

‘The point color of that cat was a deep, rich sable.’;

Periodnoun

the interval taken to complete one cycle of a regularly repeating phenomenon

Pointnoun

A tine or snag of an antler.

Periodnoun

the monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause;

‘the women were sickly and subject to excessive menstruation’; ‘a woman does not take the gout unless her menses be stopped’; ‘the semen begins to appear in males and to be emitted at the same time of life that the catamenia begin to flow in females’;

Pointnoun

(fencing) A movement executed with the sabre or foil.

‘tierce point’;

Periodnoun

a punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations;

‘in England they call a period a stop’;

Pointnoun

(heraldry) One of the several different parts of the escutcheon.

Periodnoun

a unit of geological time during which a system of rocks formed;

‘ganoid fishes swarmed during the earlier geological periods’;

Pointnoun

(nautical) A short piece of cordage used in reefing sails.

Periodnoun

the end or completion of something;

‘death put a period to his endeavors’; ‘a change soon put a period to my tranquility’;

Pointnoun

(historical) A string or lace used to tie together certain garments.

Pointnoun

Lace worked by the needle.

‘point de Venise; Brussels point’;

Pointnoun

An item of private information; a hint; a tip; a pointer.

Pointnoun

The attitude assumed by a pointer dog when he finds game.

‘The dog came to a point.’;

Pointnoun

(falconry) The perpendicular rising of a hawk over the place where its prey has gone into cover.

Pointnoun

The act of pointing, as of the foot downward in certain dance positions.

Pointnoun

The gesture of extending the index finger in a direction in order to indicate something.

Pointnoun

A vaccine point.

Pointnoun

In various sports, a position of a certain player, or, by extension, the player occupying that position.

Pointnoun

(cricket) A fielding position square of the wicket on the off side, between gully and cover.

Pointnoun

The position of the player of each side who stands a short distance in front of the goalkeeper.

Pointnoun

(baseball) The position of the pitcher and catcher.

Pointnoun

(hunting) A spot to which a straight run is made; hence, a straight run from point to point; a cross-country run.

Pointverb

(intransitive) To extend the index finger in the direction of something in order to show where it is or to draw attention to it.

‘It's rude to point at other people.’;

Pointverb

(intransitive) To draw attention to something or indicate a direction.

‘The arrow of a compass points north’; ‘The skis were pointing uphill.’; ‘The arrow on the map points towards the entrance’;

Pointverb

(intransitive) To face in a particular direction.

Pointverb

(transitive) To direct toward an object; to aim.

‘to point a gun at a wolf, or a cannon at a fort’;

Pointverb

To give a point to; to sharpen; to cut, forge, grind, or file to an acute end.

‘to point a dart, a pencil, or (figuratively) a moral’;

Pointverb

(intransitive) To indicate a probability of something.

Pointverb

To repair mortar.

Pointverb

To fill up and finish the joints of (a wall), by introducing additional cement or mortar, and bringing it to a smooth surface.

Pointverb

(stone-cutting) To cut, as a surface, with a pointed tool.

Pointverb

(transitive) To direct or encourage (someone) in a particular direction.

‘If he asks for food, point him toward the refrigerator.’;

Pointverb

To separate an integer from a decimal with a decimal point.

Pointverb

(transitive) To mark with diacritics.

Pointverb

(dated) To supply with punctuation marks; to punctuate.

‘to point a composition’;

Pointverb

To direct the central processing unit to seek information at a certain location in memory.

Pointverb

To direct requests sent to a domain name to the IP address corresponding to that domain name.

Pointverb

To sail close to the wind.

‘Bear off a little, we're pointing.’;

Pointverb

To indicate the presence of game by a fixed and steady look, as certain hunting dogs do.

Pointverb

To approximate to the surface; to head.

Pointverb

(obsolete) To appoint.

Pointverb

(dated) To give point to (something said or done); to give particular prominence or force to.

Pointverb

To appoint.

Pointverb

To give a point to; to sharpen; to cut, forge, grind, or file to an acute end; as, to point a dart, or a pencil. Used also figuratively; as, to point a moral.

Pointverb

To direct toward an abject; to aim; as, to point a gun at a wolf, or a cannon at a fort.

Pointverb

Hence, to direct the attention or notice of.

‘Whosoever should be guided through his battles by Minerva, and pointed to every scene of them.’;

Pointverb

To supply with punctuation marks; to punctuate; as, to point a composition.

Pointverb

To mark (a text, as in Arabic or Hebrew) with vowel points; - also called vocalize.

Pointverb

To give particular prominence to; to designate in a special manner; to indicate, as if by pointing; as, the error was pointed out.

‘He points it, however, by no deviation from his straightforward manner of speech.’;

Pointverb

To indicate or discover by a fixed look, as game.

Pointverb

To fill up and finish the joints of (a wall), by introducing additional cement or mortar, and bringing it to a smooth surface.

Pointverb

To cut, as a surface, with a pointed tool.

Pointverb

To direct the point of something, as of a finger, for the purpose of designating an object, and attracting attention to it; - with at.

‘Now must the world point at poor Katharine.’; ‘Point at the tattered coat and ragged shoe.’;

Pointverb

To indicate the presence of game by fixed and steady look, as certain hunting dogs do.

‘He treads with caution, and he points with fear.’;

Pointverb

To approximate to the surface; to head; - said of an abscess.

Pointnoun

That which pricks or pierces; the sharp end of anything, esp. the sharp end of a piercing instrument, as a needle or a pin.

Pointnoun

An instrument which pricks or pierces, as a sort of needle used by engravers, etchers, lace workers, and others; also, a pointed cutting tool, as a stone cutter's point; - called also pointer.

Pointnoun

Anything which tapers to a sharp, well-defined termination. Specifically: A small promontory or cape; a tract of land extending into the water beyond the common shore line.

Pointnoun

The mark made by the end of a sharp, piercing instrument, as a needle; a prick.

Pointnoun

An indefinitely small space; a mere spot indicated or supposed. Specifically: (Geom.) That which has neither parts nor magnitude; that which has position, but has neither length, breadth, nor thickness, - sometimes conceived of as the limit of a line; that by the motion of which a line is conceived to be produced.

Pointnoun

An indivisible portion of time; a moment; an instant; hence, the verge.

‘When time's first point begunMade he all souls.’;

Pointnoun

A mark of punctuation; a character used to mark the divisions of a composition, or the pauses to be observed in reading, or to point off groups of figures, etc.; a stop, as a comma, a semicolon, and esp. a period; hence, figuratively, an end, or conclusion.

‘And there a point, for ended is my tale.’; ‘Commas and points they set exactly right.’;

Pointnoun

Whatever serves to mark progress, rank, or relative position, or to indicate a transition from one state or position to another, degree; step; stage; hence, position or condition attained; as, a point of elevation, or of depression; the stock fell off five points; he won by tenpoints.

‘A lord full fat and in good point.’;

Pointnoun

That which arrests attention, or indicates qualities or character; a salient feature; a characteristic; a peculiarity; hence, a particular; an item; a detail; as, the good or bad points of a man, a horse, a book, a story, etc.

‘He told him, point for point, in short and plain.’; ‘In point of religion and in point of honor.’; ‘Shalt thou disputeWith Him the points of liberty ?’;

Pointnoun

Hence, the most prominent or important feature, as of an argument, discourse, etc.; the essential matter; esp., the proposition to be established; as, the point of an anecdote.

‘They will hardly prove his point.’;

Pointnoun

A small matter; a trifle; a least consideration; a punctilio.

‘This fellow doth not stand upon points.’; ‘[He] cared not for God or man a point.’;

Pointnoun

A dot or mark used to designate certain tones or time

Pointnoun

A fixed conventional place for reference, or zero of reckoning, in the heavens, usually the intersection of two or more great circles of the sphere, and named specifically in each case according to the position intended; as, the equinoctial points; the solstitial points; the nodal points; vertical points, etc. See Equinoctial Nodal.

Pointnoun

One of the several different parts of the escutcheon. See Escutcheon.

Pointnoun

One of the points of the compass (see Points of the compass, below); also, the difference between two points of the compass; as, to fall off a point.

Pointnoun

A a string or lace used to tie together certain parts of the dress.

Pointnoun

Lace wrought the needle; as, point de Venise; Brussels point. See Point lace, below.

Pointnoun

A switch.

Pointnoun

An item of private information; a hint; a tip; a pointer.

Pointnoun

A fielder who is stationed on the off side, about twelve or fifteen yards from, and a little in advance of, the batsman.

Pointnoun

The attitude assumed by a pointer dog when he finds game; as, the dog came to a point. See Pointer.

Pointnoun

A standard unit of measure for the size of type bodies, being one twelfth of the thickness of pica type. See Point system of type, under Type.

Pointnoun

A tyne or snag of an antler.

Pointnoun

One of the spaces on a backgammon board.

Pointnoun

A movement executed with the saber or foil; as, tierce point.

Pointnoun

A pointed piece of quill or bone covered at one end with vaccine matter; - called also vaccine point.

Pointnoun

One of the raised dots used in certain systems of printing and writing for the blind. The first practical system was that devised by Louis Braille in 1829, and still used in Europe (see Braille). Two modifications of this are current in the United States: New York point founded on three bases of equidistant points arranged in two lines (viz., : :: :::), and a later improvement, American Braille, embodying the Braille base (:::) and the New-York-point principle of using the characters of few points for the commonest letters.

Pointnoun

In various games, a position of a certain player, or, by extension, the player himself;

Pointnoun

a geometric element that has position but no extension;

‘a point is defined by its coordinates’;

Pointnoun

the precise location of something; a spatially limited location;

‘she walked to a point where she could survey the whole street’;

Pointnoun

a brief version of the essential meaning of something;

‘get to the point’; ‘he missed the point of the joke’; ‘life has lost its point’;

Pointnoun

a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process;

‘a remarkable degree of frankness’; ‘at what stage are the social sciences?’;

Pointnoun

an isolated fact that is considered separately from the whole;

‘several of the details are similar’; ‘a point of information’;

Pointnoun

an instant of time;

‘at that point I had to leave’;

Pointnoun

the object of an activity;

‘what is the point of discussing it?’;

Pointnoun

a V shape;

‘the cannibal's teeth were filed to sharp points’;

Pointnoun

a very small circular shape;

‘a row of points’; ‘draw lines between the dots’;

Pointnoun

the unit of counting in scoring a game or contest;

‘he scored 20 points in the first half’; ‘a touchdown counts 6 points’;

Pointnoun

a promontory extending out into a large body of water;

‘they sailed south around the point’;

Pointnoun

a distinct part that can be specified separately in a group of things that could be enumerated on a list;

‘he noticed an item in the New York Times’; ‘she had several items on her shopping list’; ‘the main point on the agenda was taken up first’;

Pointnoun

a style in speech or writing that arrests attention and has a penetrating or convincing quality or effect

Pointnoun

an outstanding characteristic;

‘his acting was one of the high points of the movie’;

Pointnoun

sharp end;

‘he stuck the point of the knife into a tree’; ‘he broke the point of his pencil’;

Pointnoun

any of 32 horizontal directions indicated on the card of a compass;

‘he checked the point on his compass’;

Pointnoun

a linear unit used to measure the size of type; approximately 1/72 inch

Pointnoun

a punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations;

‘in England they call a period a stop’;

Pointnoun

a V-shaped mark at one end of an arrow pointer;

‘the point of the arrow was due north’;

Pointnoun

the property of a shape that tapers to a sharp point

Pointnoun

a distinguishing or individuating characteristic;

‘he knows my bad points as well as my good points’;

Pointnoun

the gun muzzle's direction;

‘he held me up at the point of a gun’;

Pointnoun

a wall socket

Pointnoun

a contact in the distributor; as the rotor turns its projecting arm contacts distributor points and current flows to the spark plugs

Pointverb

indicate a place, direction, person, or thing; either spatially or figuratively;

‘I showed the customer the glove section’; ‘He pointed to the empty parking space’; ‘he indicated his opponents’;

Pointverb

be oriented;

‘The weather vane points North’;

Pointverb

direct into a position for use;

‘point a gun’; ‘He charged his weapon at me’;

Pointverb

direct the course; determine the direction of travelling

Pointverb

be a signal for or a symptom of;

‘These symptoms indicate a serious illness’; ‘Her behavior points to a severe neurosis’; ‘The economic indicators signal that the euro is undervalued’;

Pointverb

sail close to the wind

Pointverb

mark (Hebrew words) with diacritics

Pointverb

mark with diacritics;

‘point the letter’;

Pointverb

mark (a psalm text) to indicate the points at which the music changes

Pointverb

be positionable in a specified manner;

‘The gun points with ease’;

Pointverb

intend (something) to move towards a certain goal;

‘He aimed his fists towards his opponent's face’; ‘criticism directed at her superior’; ‘direct your anger towards others, not towards yourself’;

Pointverb

give a point to;

‘The candles are tapered’;

Pointverb

repair the joints of bricks;

‘point a chimney’;