Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Pour for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Today's word is "Pour" — verb, pronounced /pɔː/, with the stress on "pour".
Narrator: To pour means to make a liquid flow steadily from a container.
Narrator: In plain English, you tip a jug and let the drink run into a glass.
Narrator: The word appeared in Middle English, and its earlier origin is uncertain, though it may come from Old French.
Narrator: A common collocation is "pour a cup of tea", which describes a gentle, controlled flow.
Narrator: It differs from "spill", because pouring is deliberate, while spilling is an accident.
Narrator: In a second sense, people or things can pour in large numbers, as when fans pour out of a stadium or it is pouring with rain.
Narrator: Cooks, bartenders, builders pouring concrete and weather forecasters all rely on the word.
Narrator: So remember: to pour is to send something out in a steady, generous stream.
Speaker A: Why do British people say it is pouring when it rains?
Speaker B: Because it paints the picture perfectly! POUR is an old Middle English word, and the sky really does seem to empty a bucket.
Speaker A: So it means heavy rain, not a light shower?
Speaker B: That is right. A drizzle never pours.
Speaker A: Example sentences?
Speaker B: "Shall I pour you some tea?", a polite offer. "Letters poured in after the programme", meaning many arrived. "She poured her heart out", meaning she shared all her feelings.
Speaker A: Common mistakes?
Speaker B: Do not confuse pour with pore; you pore over a book, but you pour a drink.
Speaker A: Close relatives?
Speaker B: Flow is its calm cousin, stream is its steady twin, and gush is the dramatic alternative, but pour keeps its generous charm!
Speaker B: Let's use "pour" in AI prompts — useful for data pipelines and cafe ordering apps.
Speaker A: How does it fit a data pipeline?
Speaker B: Describe data pouring into a system in a steady stream.
Prompt: Design a Node.js service that handles thousands of sensor readings pouring in every second and batches them into the database every five seconds.
Speaker A: And the cafe app?
Speaker B: Use it literally for drink preparation steps.
Prompt: Write the step-by-step barista instructions for a flat white, including when to pour the milk, for display in a coffee shop app.
Speaker A: Anything for user feedback?
Speaker B: Yes, when reviews are flooding in.
Prompt: Summarise the customer reviews that poured in this week into five themes, each with one representative quotation.
Speaker A: One more?
Speaker B: A weather widget, of course.
Prompt: Generate friendly British-English weather messages for a mobile app, including one for when it is pouring with rain.
Pour — meaning in Arabic & definition More P courses GL Dictionary