HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

pot¹

(pŏt)

1. Any of various usually domestic containers made of pottery, metal, or glass, as:

a. A round, fairly deep cooking vessel with a handle and often a lid.

b. A short round container for storing or serving food: a jam pot; a mustard pot.

c. A coffeepot.

d. A teapot.

a. Such a container and its contents: a pot of stew; brewed a pot of coffee.

b. A potful.

a. A large drinking cup; a tankard.

b. A drink of liquor contained in such a cup.

4. An artistic or decorative ceramic vessel of any shape.

5. A flowerpot.

6. Something, such as a chimney pot or chamber pot, that resembles a round cooking vessel in appearance or function.

7. A trap for eels, other fish, or crustaceans, typically consisting of a wicker or wire basket or cage.

8. Games

a. The total amount staked by all the players in one hand in cards.

b. The area on a card table where stakes are placed.

c. A shot in billiards or related games intended to send a ball into a pocket.

9. Informal A common fund to which members of a group contribute.

10. often pots Informal A large amount: lost a pot of cash in the stock market crash; made pots of money on their investment.

11. Informal A potshot.

12. Informal A potbelly.

13. Informal A potty or toilet.

v. pot·ted, pot·ting, pots

v. tr.

1. To place or plant in a pot: pot a geranium.

2. To preserve (food) in a pot.

3. To cook in a pot.

4. To shoot (game) for food rather than for sport.

5. Informal To shoot with a potshot.

6. Informal To win or capture; bag.

7. Games To hit (a ball) into a pocket.

v. intr.

1. Informal To take a potshot.

2. To make or shape objects from clay, as on a potter's wheel.

[Middle English, from Old English pott, from Vulgar Latin *pottus, of unknown origin.]

pot²

(pŏt)

n.
Slang

Marijuana.

[Origin unknown.]

pot³

(pŏt)

See potentiometer.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

American Heritage Dictionary Products

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

THE USAGE PANEL

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

American Heritage Dictionary Products