pour

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To cause (liquid, or liquid-like substance) to flow in a stream, either out of a container or into it.
2. (figuratively, transitive) To send out as in a stream or a flood; to cause (an emotion) to come out; to cause to escape.
3. (transitive) To send forth from, as in a stream; to discharge uninterruptedly.
4. (intransitive) To flow, pass, or issue in a stream; to fall continuously and abundantly.
5. (impersonal) To rain hard.
6. (intransitive) Of a beverage, to be on tap or otherwise available for serving to customers.
7. (intransitive) To move in a throng, as a crowd.

Noun

1. The act of pouring.
2. Something, or an amount, poured.
3. (colloquial) A downpour; a flood of precipitation.

Synonyms

spill

pour out

shed

flow

stream

fill

scatter

water

🚰

run

splash

sprinkle

gush

dump

irrigate

overflow

tip

pour in

drip

serve

throw

decant

flood

rain buckets

rain cats and dogs

pelt

pour down

lash down

drain

throw away

transfer

take away

teem

surge

shower

🚿

beat down

waste

effuse

leak

spread

let flow

drench

throw out

cast

capsizes

swarm

trickle

sieve

spill out

empty out

run out

Translations

verser

gießen

versare

verter

gieten

schütten

despejar

derramar

schenken

verter

derramar

abocar

echar

χύνω

Pronounced as (IPA)

/pɔː/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: pouren

Cognate with Middle Dutch: afpuren

In summary

From Middle English pouren (“to pour”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old Northern French purer (“to sift (grain), pour out (water)”), from Latin pūrō (“to purify”), from pūrus (“pure”). Compare Middle Dutch afpuren (“to pour off, drain”).
To pour displaced several Middle English verbs:
* schenchen, schenken (“to pour”), from Old English sċenċan (“to pour out”) and Old Norse skenkja, from Proto-Germanic *skankijaną. Compare dialectal English shink, skink.
* yeten, from Old English ġēotan (“to pour”), from Proto-Germanic *geutaną.
* birlen (“to pour, serve drink to”), from Old English byrelian (“to pour, serve drink to”).
* hellen (“to pour, pour out”), from Old Norse hella (“to pour out, incline”).
* temen (“to pour out, empty”), from Old Norse tœma (“to pour out, empty”). Compare archaic English teem.