overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

pour.

To cause (liquid, or liquid-like substance) to flow in a stream, either out of a container or into it.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/pɔː/Received-Pronunciation/poɹ/General-American/po(ː)ɹ//poə/
  1. To cause (liquid, or liquid-like substance) to flow in a stream, either out of a container or into it.

    transitive
    pour water from a jug
    pour wine into a decanter
  2. To send out as in a stream or a flood; to cause (an emotion) to come out; to cause to escape.

    figuratively · transitive
    My teacher poured scorn on my attempts at writing.
  3. To send forth from, as in a stream; to discharge uninterruptedly.

    transitive
  4. To flow, pass, or issue in a stream; to fall continuously and abundantly.

    intransitive
    the rain poured down.
  5. To rain hard.

    impersonal
    It's pouring outside.
  6. Of a beverage, to be on tap or otherwise available for serving to customers.

    intransitive
  7. To move in a throng, as a crowd.

    intransitive
    The people poured out of the theater.
  8. To move (a drunk or unsteady person) into or out of a place or vehicle.

    transitive
    She poured him into a taxi and handed the driver the fare.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English pouren (“to pour”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old Northern French purer (“to sift (grain), pour out (water)”), from Latin pūrō (“to purify”), from pūrus (“pure”). Compare Middle Dutch afpuren (“to pour off, drain”). To pour displaced several Middle English verbs: * schenchen, schenken (“to pour”), from Old English sċenċan (“to pour out”) and Old Norse skenkja, from Proto-Germanic *skankijaną. Compare dialectal English shink, skink. * yeten, from Old English ġēotan (“to pour”), from Proto-Germanic *geutaną. * birlen (“to pour, serve drink to”), from Old English byrelian (“to pour, serve drink to”). * hellen (“to pour, pour out”), from Old Norse hella (“to pour out, incline”). * temen (“to pour out, empty”), from Old Norse tœma (“to pour out, empty”). Compare archaic English teem.

noun/pɔː/Received-Pronunciation/poɹ/General-American/po(ː)ɹ//poə/
  1. The act of pouring.

    The bartender's inexpert pour left me with a pint of beer that was half foam.
  2. Something, or an amount, poured.

  3. A downpour; a flood of precipitation.

    colloquial
Where this word comes from

From Middle English pouren (“to pour”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old Northern French purer (“to sift (grain), pour out (water)”), from Latin pūrō (“to purify”), from pūrus (“pure”). Compare Middle Dutch afpuren (“to pour off, drain”). To pour displaced several Middle English verbs: * schenchen, schenken (“to pour”), from Old English sċenċan (“to pour out”) and Old Norse skenkja, from Proto-Germanic *skankijaną. Compare dialectal English shink, skink. * yeten, from Old English ġēotan (“to pour”), from Proto-Germanic *geutaną. * birlen (“to pour, serve drink to”), from Old English byrelian (“to pour, serve drink to”). * hellen (“to pour, pour out”), from Old Norse hella (“to pour out, incline”). * temen (“to pour out, empty”), from Old Norse tœma (“to pour out, empty”). Compare archaic English teem.

verb/pɔː/Received-Pronunciation/poɹ/General-American/po(ː)ɹ//poə/
  1. Misspelling of pore.

    alt-of · misspelling
FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

pour has 4 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

pour studiopour workshello, pour

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.