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pot 1 (pŏt)
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n.
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.
2.
a. Such a container and its contents: a pot of stew; brewed a pot of coffee.
b. A potful.
3.
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.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
pot 2 (pŏt)
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n.
Slang
Marijuana.

[Origin unknown.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
pot 3 (pŏt)
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

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.