pointing

Pluralpointings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of point. Use this form for an action happening right now.

   She kept pointing at the strange bird in the tree.

   He was pointing toward the exit when the lights went out.

   Note
2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The act of using a finger or object to show where something is.

   Like aiming an arrow at a target, but with your finger.

   The toddler's pointing helped us figure out what he wanted.

   Pointing at strangers is considered rude in many places.

   Note
3. 3
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The job of filling the gaps between bricks or stones with mortar.

   Like filling the gaps between bathroom tiles to keep water out.

   The pointing on the old garden wall had crumbled and needed redoing.

   A mason spent the week renewing the pointing around the chimney.

4. 4
   nouncollectivecountable or uncountable

   The mortar that fills the gap between bricks.

   Like the lines you can see between bathroom tiles that hold them in place.

   The pointing between these stones is cracked and falling out.

   They scraped out the old pointing before adding fresh mortar.

   Note
5. 5
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The act of adding punctuation marks such as commas and periods to a piece of writing.

   Like the road signs of a sentence, showing when to stop or slow down.

   Careful pointing makes a long sentence much easier to read.

   Early scribes had no standard system of pointing.

   Similarpunctuation

6. 6
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The small marks added to Hebrew writing to show the vowel sounds.

   Like adding the missing vowels to a word written with only consonants.

   The pointing in this prayer book helps beginners read the vowels.

   Most Hebrew newspapers leave out the pointing entirely.

   Similarnikud

   Note
7. 7
   noununcountable

   Adding marks to a psalm or song text to show singers when to change notes and where to pause.

   Like marks in a song book that tell singers when to switch tunes.

   The choir director explained the pointing before they sang the psalm.

   Careful pointing keeps the whole choir moving to the next note together.

   Note
8. 8
   nouncountable

   One particular set of chant marks worked out for a single song text.

   Like one set of dance steps written out for a particular piece of music.

   The new hymnal uses a different pointing for Psalm 23.

   Several pointings of the same psalm circulate among English choirs.

   Note
9. 9
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A way of copying a statue into stone by measuring many points on a model.

   Like copying a drawing dot by dot so the new one matches exactly.

   The studio used pointing to reproduce the clay model in marble.

   Without pointing, carving an exact copy would be nearly impossible.

   Note
10. 10
    nouncountable or uncountable

    Rubbing off the pointed end of wheat grains in the first step of milling.

    Like rubbing the rough ends off a seed before grinding it up.

    Pointing removes the tip of each grain before the wheat is ground.

    The mill's first stage is pointing, which cleans the ends of the grain.

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