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Wiktionary

pointer

See also: Pointer

English

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teacher's pointer (sense 1.2)
 
needle of a measuring device (sense 1.3)
 
pointer dog (sense 1.4)
 
GUI pointers (sense 1.6)

Etymology

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From point +‎ -er (agent noun suffix) or +‎ -er (measurement suffix) (sense 10).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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pointer (plural pointers)

  1. Anything that points or is used for pointing.
    1. One who points.
      • 1972, Lynn Hall, Sticks and Stones:
        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.
      • 2006, Alexandre Dumas, translated by Richard Pevear, The Three Musketeers, Viking, →ISBN, pages 645–646:
        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; […]
      • 2010, Donald Junkins, Half Hitch, iUniverse, →ISBN:
        “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.
      • 2020, J.M. Griffin, Who’s Dead, Doc?, Kensington Books, →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.
    3. A teacher's pointer, pointing stick, a rod with an arrow.
      Synonym: fescue
      Hyponym: yad
    5. A needlelike component of a timepiece or measuring device that indicates the time or the current reading of the device.
      Synonyms: hand, needle
    7. (hunting) A breed of hunting dog, trained to point out game.
      Coordinate terms: retriever, setter
      • 2007, American Kennel Club, The Complete Dog Book, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 30:
        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.
    8. (programming) A variable that holds the address of a memory location where a value can be stored.
      Synonym: reference
      Hyponyms: dangling pointer, function pointer, null pointer
      • 1974, Donald Knuth, “Structured Programming with go to Statements”, in Computing Surveys‎[1], volume 6, number 5, →DOI, archived from the original on August 24, 2009, pages 261–301:
        I do consider assignment statements and pointer variables to be among computer science's "most valuable treasures."
    10. (graphical user interface) An icon that indicates the position of the pointing device, such as a mouse.
      Synonym: cursor
      • 1995, Aaron Marcus, Nick Smilonich, Lynne Thompson, The Cross-GUI Handbook, Addison-Wesley, →ISBN, page 231:
        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.
  2. (chiefly in the plural) A tip, a bit of advice.
    Synonym: advice
    The instructor gave me some pointers on writing a good paper.
    • 1964 April, “News and Comment: Auxiliaries in LT stock”, in Modern Railways, page 234:
      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.
  3. Something that gives a point (sharp end) to something.
    pencil pointer
  4. (in combinations) Something worth a given number of points.
    a ten-pointer
    • 2011 September 18, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia”, in BBC Sport‎[2]:
      After another penalty miss, Kvirikashvili finally found the target on 27 minutes before Flood hit back with a three-pointer of his own.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Dutch

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Etymology

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From English pointer.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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pointer m (plural pointers, diminutive pointertje n)

  1. (programming) pointer

French

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Etymology 1

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From point +‎ -er, from the past participle of poindre.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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pointer

  1. (transitive) to point to/at
    pointer du doigt ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    pointer le bout de son nez ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    pointer son nez ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
  2. (transitive, by extension) to indicate, to show, to point out
  3. (intransitive) to clock in, to clock on, to punch in; to clock out, to clock off, to punch out (to enter or leave a workplace by punching a time card)
  4. (informal, pronominal) to show up, turn up
    Synonyms: arriver, se ramener, ramener sa fraise
    On doit se pointer à quelle heure?
    What time do we have to show up?
Conjugation
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Conjugation of pointer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple pointer
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple pointant
/pwɛ̃.tɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle pointé
/pwɛ̃.te/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present pointe
/pwɛ̃t/ 		pointes
/pwɛ̃t/ 		pointe
/pwɛ̃t/ 		pointons
/pwɛ̃.tɔ̃/ 		pointez
/pwɛ̃.te/ 		pointent
/pwɛ̃t/
imperfect pointais
/pwɛ̃.tɛ/ 		pointais
/pwɛ̃.tɛ/ 		pointait
/pwɛ̃.tɛ/ 		pointions
/pwɛ̃.tjɔ̃/ 		pointiez
/pwɛ̃.tje/ 		pointaient
/pwɛ̃.tɛ/
past historic2 pointai
/pwɛ̃.te/ 		pointas
/pwɛ̃.ta/ 		pointa
/pwɛ̃.ta/ 		pointâmes
/pwɛ̃.tam/ 		pointâtes
/pwɛ̃.tat/ 		pointèrent
/pwɛ̃.tɛʁ/
future pointerai
/pwɛ̃.tʁe/ 		pointeras
/pwɛ̃.tʁa/ 		pointera
/pwɛ̃.tʁa/ 		pointerons
/pwɛ̃.tʁɔ̃/ 		pointerez
/pwɛ̃.tʁe/ 		pointeront
/pwɛ̃.tʁɔ̃/
conditional pointerais
/pwɛ̃.tʁɛ/ 		pointerais
/pwɛ̃.tʁɛ/ 		pointerait
/pwɛ̃.tʁɛ/ 		pointerions
/pwɛ̃.tə.ʁjɔ̃/ 		pointeriez
/pwɛ̃.tə.ʁje/ 		pointeraient
/pwɛ̃.tʁɛ/
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior2 past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present pointe
/pwɛ̃t/ 		pointes
/pwɛ̃t/ 		pointe
/pwɛ̃t/ 		pointions
/pwɛ̃.tjɔ̃/ 		pointiez
/pwɛ̃.tje/ 		pointent
/pwɛ̃t/
imperfect2 pointasse
/pwɛ̃.tas/ 		pointasses
/pwɛ̃.tas/ 		pointât
/pwɛ̃.ta/ 		pointassions
/pwɛ̃.ta.sjɔ̃/ 		pointassiez
/pwɛ̃.ta.sje/ 		pointassent
/pwɛ̃.tas/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — pointe
/pwɛ̃t/ 		— pointons
/pwɛ̃.tɔ̃/ 		pointez
/pwɛ̃.te/ 		—
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
  • past historic → present perfect
  • past anterior → pluperfect
  • imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
  • pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • → German: pointieren

Etymology 2

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Borrowed from English pointer.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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pointer m (plural pointers)

  1. pointer (dog)

Further reading

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Portuguese

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English pointer.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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pointer m (plural pointers)

  1. pointer (breed of hunting dog)

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English pointer.

Noun

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pointer m (plural pointeri)

  1. (programming) pointer
    • 2021 September 8, Wikipedia contributors, “C (limbaj de programare)”, in English Wikipedia‎[3], Wikimedia Foundation:
      Acești pointeri sunt foarte folositori în programarea generică.
      These pointers are very useful in generic programming.
  2. (hunting) pointer (dog breed)

Declension

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singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative pointer pointerul pointeri pointerii
genitive-dative pointer pointerului pointeri pointerilor
vocative pointerule pointerilor
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