Dictionary

pointer en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈpɔɪn.təɹ/ (General-American)
• /ˈpɔɪnəɹ/ (General-American)
• (US) audio
• /ˈpɔɪn.tə/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From point + -er (agent noun suffix) or + -er (measurement suffix) (sense 4).

Meanings

1. Anything that points or is used for pointing. ▸ One who points.
   • The talkers and pointers had undermined him. They had touched him with the acid of their suspicions, and the corrosion spread until he himself had lost sight of the truth. 1972, Lynn Hall, Sticks and Stones:
   • The man he addressed drew back in horror, but answered the musketeer’s words by pointing his finger. Athos offered the man a half pistole to accompany him, but the man refused. Athos went down the street that the pointer had indicated to him with his finger; […] 2006, Alexandre Dumas, translated by Richard Pevear, The Three Musketeers, Viking, →ISBN, pages 645–646:
   • “Hey,” the finger pointer said, re-pointing his finger at Joe, “are you a joke or what?” / “I don't think I'm a joke.” / “Well I think you're a joke.” He dropped his hand and then lifted it again and pointed his finger at Joe's chest. 2010, Donald Junkins, Half Hitch, iUniverse, →ISBN:
   • One man pointed his finger at another, nearly poking the tip of it into the man’s chest. I sidled closer and heard the pointer accuse the other man of cheating. 2020, J.M. Griffin, Who’s Dead, Doc?, Kensington Books, →ISBN:
2. Anything that points or is used for pointing. ▸ A teacher's pointer, pointing stick, a rod with an arrow.
3. Anything that points or is used for pointing. ▸ A needlelike component of a timepiece or measuring device that indicates the time or the current reading of the device.
4. Anything that points or is used for pointing. ▸ Any of several breeds of hunting dog, trained to point out game; an individual of such a breed.
   • Most of the early wirehaired pointers represented a combination of Griffon, Stichelhaar, Pudelpointer, and German Shorthair. The Pudelpointer was a cross between a Poodle dog and an English Pointer bitch; the Griffon and the Stichelhaar were composed of Pointer, Foxhound, Pudelpointer, and a Polish water dog. 2007, American Kennel Club, The Complete Dog Book, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 30:
5. Anything that points or is used for pointing. ▸ A variable that holds the address of a memory location where a value can be stored.
   • I do consider assignment statements and pointer variables to be among computer science's "most valuable treasures." 1974, Donald Knuth, “Structured Programming with go to Statements”, in Computing Surveys, volume 6, number 5, →DOI, archived from the original on 24 Aug 2009, pages 261–301:
6. Anything that points or is used for pointing. ▸ An icon that indicates the position of the pointing device, such as a mouse.
   • The system notifies the user of the progress of a task by changing the appearance of the pointer. System-busy pointers usually adopt a timepiece metaphor. 1995, Aaron Marcus, Nick Smilonich, Lynne Thompson, The Cross-GUI Handbook, Addison-Wesley, →ISBN, page 231:
7. (in-plural) A tip, a bit of advice.
   • The instructor gave me some pointers on writing a good paper.
   • In a paper to the Institute of Locomotive Engineers on February 17 which ranged over the whole subject of auxiliary services on London Transport rolling stock, Mr. R. I. D. Arthurton, Mechanical Engineer (Development—Railways) London Transport Board, gave some pointers to the future on the Victoria Line and elsewhere. 1964 April, “News and Comment: Auxiliaries in LT stock”, in Modern Railways, page 234:
8. Something that gives a point (sharp end) to something.
   • pencil pointer
9. (in combinations) Something worth a given number of points.
   • After another penalty miss, Kvirikashvili finally found the target on 27 minutes before Flood hit back with a three-pointer of his own. 2011 September 18, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia”, in BBC Sport:
   • a ten-pointer

Forms

Coordinates

retriever · setter

Deriveds

station pointer · pointer finger · nonpointer · telepointer · shared pointer · parent pointer tree · six-pointer · finger-pointer · smart pointer · pointerless · downpointer · five-pointer · laser pointer · Hungarian Pointer · mouse pointer · Faraday pointer · point-to-pointer · pointerlike · back pointer · three-pointer · six pointer · wild pointer · white pointer

Relateds

address · dereference

Synonyms

reference · hint · advice · cursor · fescue · indicator · hand · needle

Translations (153)

ba күрһәткес (teacher's pointer) · ja 教鞭 (anything that points or is used for pointing) · sh ка̀за̄љка (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · es puntero (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · cmn 指針 /指针 (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · pt ponteiro (anything that points or is used for pointing) · ko 포인터 (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · fi osoitin (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · bg показа́лка (teacher's pointer) · cmn 指針 /指针 (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · hu angol vizsla (breed of hunting dog) · ms penuding (anything that points or is used for pointing) · el πόιντερ (breed of hunting dog) · kmr nîşanderk (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · is bendir (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · pl wskazówka (tip, bit of advice) · sh показѝва̄ч (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · fr chien d'arrêt (breed of hunting dog) · ja 文字さし (anything that points or is used for pointing) · pt ponteiro (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · bg указа́тел (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · de Zeigestab (teacher's pointer) · ko 포인터 (GUI: icon indicating mouse position) · cmn 教鞭 (anything that points or is used for pointing) · es aguja (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · ko 교편 (teacher's pointer) · pt pointer (breed of hunting dog) · be ука́зка (anything that points or is used for pointing) · es manecilla (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · be ука́зка (teacher's pointer) · cmn 指示棍 (anything that points or is used for pointing) · de Vorstehhund (breed of hunting dog) · fi viisari (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · ko 지침 (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · bg по́йнтер (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · de Zeiger (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · sv pekpinne (teacher's pointer) · cs ukazatel (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · gd cù-eunaich (breed of hunting dog) · es indicación (tip, bit of advice) · ru указа́тель (anything that points or is used for pointing) · es tip (tip, bit of advice) · es apuntador (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · de Zeigestock (anything that points or is used for pointing) · fr aiguille (anything that points or is used for pointing) · hu mutató (anything that points or is used for pointing) · it indicatore (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · ru по́йнтер (breed of hunting dog) · ru ука́зка (teacher's pointer) · pt braco (breed of hunting dog) · be стрэ́лка (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · ms jarum penunjuk (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · io brako (breed of hunting dog) · fi osoitin (anything that points or is used for pointing) · kmr nîşanderk (anything that points or is used for pointing) · de Pointer (breed of hunting dog) · es puntero (teacher's pointer) · de Fingerzeig (tip, bit of advice) · fi osoitin (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · pt dica (tip, bit of advice) · et viit (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · es saeta (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · ru по́йнтер (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · es puntero (GUI: icon indicating mouse position) · fa اشارال (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · fi kanakoira (breed of hunting dog) · tr işaret çubuğu (teacher's pointer) · mi tīwhiri (tip, bit of advice) · ro pointer (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · ba күрһәткес (anything that points or is used for pointing) · es perro de muestra (breed of hunting dog) · sv visare (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · ru стре́лка (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · nl pointer (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · ru ука́зка (anything that points or is used for pointing) · es puntero (anything that points or is used for pointing) · fr baguette (anything that points or is used for pointing) · ja 指し棒 (anything that points or is used for pointing) · ca apuntador (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · ja 指針 (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · it bacchetta (anything that points or is used for pointing) · es recomendación (tip, bit of advice) · fr pointeur (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · pt ponteiro (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · it cane da punta (breed of hunting dog) · cmn 指標 /指标 (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · kmr nîşanderk (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · uk ука́зка (teacher's pointer) · ko 포인터 (breed of hunting dog) · es índex (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · ms anjing penuding (breed of hunting dog) · de Nadel (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · it bacchetta (teacher's pointer) · pl wskaźnik (anything that points or is used for pointing) · es braco (breed of hunting dog) · it puntatore (breed of hunting dog) · uk вказівни́к (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · sh ка̀за̄љка (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · eo montrilo (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · kmr poyinter (breed of hunting dog) · it puntatore (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · ms penuding (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · ko 바늘 (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · ota ایكنه (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · it bracco (breed of hunting dog) · bg по́йнтер (breed of hunting dog) · sh kàzāljka (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · ja 指し棒 (teacher's pointer) · fi seisoja (breed of hunting dog) · hu pointer (breed of hunting dog) · bg стрелка́ (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · fi pointteri (breed of hunting dog) · bg показа́лка (anything that points or is used for pointing) · tr göstergeç (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · pl wyżeł (breed of hunting dog) · cmn 指標犬 /指标犬 (breed of hunting dog) · bg указа́ние (tip, bit of advice) · de Zeigestock (teacher's pointer) · ja ポインター (GUI: icon indicating mouse position) · fi karttakeppi (teacher's pointer) · sh kàzāljka (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · az ibrə (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · sv pekare (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · sh pokazìvāč (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · cmn 教鞭 (teacher's pointer) · fr aiguille (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · es idea (tip, bit of advice) · es saetilla (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · uk ука́зка (anything that points or is used for pointing) · vi que chỉ (anything that points or is used for pointing) · de Zeigestab (anything that points or is used for pointing) · ja ポインター (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · th ไม้ชี้ (anything that points or is used for pointing) · fi pointteri (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · ru указа́тель (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · ko 지시봉 (anything that points or is used for pointing) · pl wskaźnik (teacher's pointer) · sv pointer (breed of hunting dog) · es sugerencia (tip, bit of advice) · el δείκτης (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · pl wskazówka (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · ja ポインター (breed of hunting dog) · pt ponteiro (GUI: icon indicating mouse position) · pl wskaźnik (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · uk стрі́лка (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · pt perdigueiro (breed of hunting dog) · fr braque (breed of hunting dog) · de Zeiger (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · es consejo (tip, bit of advice) · kmr mîl (needle of a timepiece or measuring device) · th พ้อยท์เตอร์ (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · ar مُؤَشِّر (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable) · de Pointer (programming: variable that stores the address of another variable)