pour

Formspours, pouring, poured

Pluralpours

1. 1
   tip liquidverbtransitive

   To make a liquid, or something that flows like one, run in a stream out of or into a container.

   He poured coffee into two mugs and carried them to the table.

   Pour the batter slowly so it spreads evenly across the pan.

   UsageUsually with a direction: pour milk into a glass, water over plants. Reading closely is pore over a book (not incorrect: pour over).

   Similardecant, tip, dispense

   Note

   Anything that flows like a liquid qualifies, so sand and dust pour too.

2. 2
   verbintransitive

   To stream out or along, or to come down steadily and in great quantity.

   Sunlight poured through the tall windows of the library.

   Complaints continued to pour in after the price increase.

   UsageUsually with a direction: pour down, pour in, pour through. Rain often comes pouring down.

   Similarstream, flood, flow, gush, cascade

   Oppositetrickle

   Note

   Now the liquid itself is the subject, and nothing does the pouring. Compare the transitive sense, where someone tips the jug. Light, complaints and letters pour in the same way.

3. 3
   let out (feelings)verbfigurativelytransitive

   To send out in a stream or flood; to release an emotion or cause something to escape freely.

   He poured his grief into the music he wrote that year.

   Critics pour scorn on the plan every time it resurfaces.

   UsagePour scorn on something is a set phrase. Feelings are poured out, or poured into a piece of work.

   Similarchannel, heap, vent

   Note

   Here what flows is feeling, scorn or people rather than liquid. The King James Bible of 1611 pours out a soul before the Lord and pours out fury, and Shakespeare's Henry the Fift has London pouring out her citizens. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • The King James Bible was first published in 1611, as dated on its first-edition title page. en.wikisource.org
   • The King James Bible describes pouring out a soul before the Lord; Hannah says this in 1 Samuel 1:15. en.wikisource.org
   • The King James Bible uses pouring out for fury, including in Jeremiah 10:25. en.wikisource.org
   • Shakespeare's Henry V describes London pouring out her citizens; the Chorus speaks the line in the prologue to Act V. en.wikisource.org
4. 4
   rain hardverbintransitive

   To rain hard.

   It poured all weekend, so the game was canceled.

   Forecasters say it will pour through Tuesday.

   UsageThe subject is it: it's pouring, it poured all night. With rain as the subject, say the rain poured down.

   Similarteem, pelt, bucket, lash

   Oppositedrizzle

5. 5
   move in crowdsverbintransitive

   To move somewhere in a throng, as a crowd does.

   Shoppers poured through the doors the moment the sale began.

   Refugees continued to pour across the border for weeks.

   UsageUsually with a direction: crowds pour into, out of or through a place.

   Similarcrowd, throng, sweep

   Oppositetrickle

   Note

   People become the stream: crowds pour out of a theater, into a city, through doors. John Gay's Trivia (1716) already describes a throng that "pour on with furious pace". Sports reporting uses it for an attacking side, as when Arsenal poured forward against Leeds. Unlike crowd or throng, it stresses movement and volume. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • John Gay wrote Trivia. en.wikipedia.org
   • Trivia was first published in 1716. grubstreetproject.net
   • Trivia describes a throng using the words “pour on with furious pace”. en.wikisource.org
   • Sports reporting described Arsenal as having “poured forward” against Leeds. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   nouncountable

   An act of pouring, or the amount of a drink or other substance poured at one time.

   The ceremony ended with a slow pour of tea for each guest.

   A steady pour keeps the batter from splashing.

   UsageOften with an adjective: a slow pour, a generous pour (a large measure).

   Note

   The bartender's word for technique. A pour can be skilled or inexpert, slow or steady, and an inexpert pour of beer leaves a pint half foam. It can also name the measure in the glass, so a generous pour is about how much was served. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • An inexpert beer pour can leave a pint half foam. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   be served (bar)verbintransitive

   Of a drink, to be available to customers, whether on tap or in some other form.

   Six craft beers pour at the taproom this weekend.

   A seasonal cider has been pouring since the start of October.

   UsageThe drink is the subject: what's pouring tonight, six beers pour here this week.

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