pound
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into a paste. 2 [I;T] to beat or hit repeatedly, heavily, and noisily: *My heart pounded (with excitement).* | *He pounded the table angrily.* | (fig.) *Our guns pounded away at the enemy positions.* (=kept firing heavily at them) 3 [I+adv/prep] to move with heavy quick steps that make a dull sound: *The runaway cattle pounded down the hill.*
**pound³** *n* a place where lost dogs and cats, or cars that have been illegally parked, are kept by the police until claimed by the owner → see also IMPOUND
**Pound, Ez·ra** /'ezrə/ (1885–1972) a US poet who lived mostly in Europe, and whose poems include the *Cantos*. He broadcast on the radio in support of FASCISM and MUSSOLINI during World War II. As a result, after the war the US government charged him with TREASON, but he was judged to be mentally ill and sent to a mental hospital until 1958.
**pound·age** /'paʊndɪdʒ/ *n* [U(on)] *tech* an amount charged for every pound in weight, or for every British £1 in value
**'pound cake** *n* *AmE* a heavy cake made from almost equal parts of flour, sugar, and butter
**pound·ing** /'paʊndɪŋ/ *n* 1 [C;U] the act or sound of someone or something that POUNDS: *the pounding of my heart* 2 [C] *inflml* a severe defeat: *Our football team took a real pounding from Brazil.*
**'pound sign** *n* 1 *BrE* the SYMBOL (£), used for a pound in British money 2 *AmE* the SYMBOL (#), used especially on a telephone → BrE HASH SYMBOL
**pour** /pɔːr/ *v* 1 [T+obj+adv/prep] to cause (something) to flow (out of or into a container): *Pour some wine into my glass.* | *Pour away the dirty water.* | *The chimney was pouring out black smoke.* | (fig.) *The government has been pouring money into the steel industry.* (=supporting it with large amounts of money) | [+obj][+obj][d]) *Can I pour you (out) another cup of tea?* 2 [I+adv/prep] to flow steadily and rapidly: *Blood poured from the wound.* | *Smoke was pouring from the window.* | (fig.) *At five o'clock workers poured out of the factories.* 3 [I] *inflml* to fill cups of tea, coffee etc, and serve them to others: *Shall I pour or will you?* 4 [I+adv] (of a container) to be suitable for pouring: *This teapot doesn't pour very well.* 5 [(DOWN)] (of rain) to fall hard and steadily: *The rain is really pouring down.* | *She spoilt her new shoes in the pouring rain.* | [it+] *It's pouring down/pouring with rain.* → see RAIN (USAGE) 6 **pour cold water over/on** *inflml* to speak discouragingly about; dismiss as not being sensible: *Don't pour cold water on the scheme: it has some good points.* 7 **pour oil on troubled waters** to try to stop trouble, a quarrel etc by making the people who are causing it calmer 8 **pour scorn on** to speak with unkind disrespect about
**pour sthg. ⇔ out** *phr v* [T(to)] to tell (a story, news, one's troubles etc) in an uncontrolled way so that the words rush out, especially after keeping them unexpressed for a long time: *She poured out her worries to the doctor.*
**Pous·sin, Nic·o·las** /'pu:sæn|pu:'sɑːn, 'nɪkələs/ (1594–1665) a French painter known especially for his LANDSCAPES (=paintings showing an area of countryside or land)
**pout¹** /paʊt/ *v* [I;T] to push (the lips or the lower lip) forward, especially to show displeasure or to attract sexual interest: *The spoilt child sat there pouting.*
**pout²** *n* an act of pouting: *a sullen/sensual pout*
**pov·er·ty** /'pɒvəti||'pɑːvərti/ *n* 1 [U] the state of being poor: *They live in abject poverty/below the poverty line.* (=their income is less than is needed to buy enough food, pay for a proper place to live etc) 2 [S;U(of)] *fml derog* (a) lack: *His later stories show (a) surprising poverty of imagination.* → compare POORNESS
**'poverty ,line, the** a level of income below which a person or family is considered to be very poor and able to receive government help. In the US the poverty line in the late 1980s was set at about $12,000 a year for a family of four, and the amount is changed each year because of INFLATION.
**'poverty-,stricken** *adj* extremely poor
**'poverty ,trap** *n* a situation in which the amount of money earned by a poor person or family increases slightly so that they are no longer allowed to receive special government payments and as a result they have even less money than before
**pow** /paʊ/ *interj* a word used in children's COMICS (=magazines of picture stories) to show that somebody has hit another person hard
**POW** /ˌpiː əʊ 'dʌbəljuː/ *abbrev. for. n* a PRISONER OF WAR: *a POW camp*
**pow·der¹** /'paʊdər/ *n* 1 [C;U] (a) dry substance in the form of extremely small grains: *On examination, the white powder turned out to be heroin.* | *milk powder* 2 [U] a pleasant-smelling often flesh-coloured substance in this form, for use on the skin: *baby powder* | *face powder* → see also TALCUM POWDER 3 [C] *old use* a medicine in the form of powder: *a stomach powder* 4 [U] GUNPOWDER 5 **take a powder** *AmE slang* to be hurt and usually to fall down in a fight: *He took a powder in the third round.*
**powder²** *v* 1 [T] to put powder on: *She powdered the baby after its bath.* 2 **powder one's nose** *euph* (of a woman) to go to the TOILET
**pow·dered** /'paʊdəd||-ərd/ *adj* 1 produced or dried in the form of powder: *powdered egg* 2 covered with powder: *powdered hair*
**,powdered 'milk** also **dried milk** *n* [U] milk which has been dried for easy keeping → see also BABY MILK
**'powder keg** *n* something dangerous that might explode: (fig.) *That country is a political powder keg; revolution could break out at any time.*
**'powder puff** *n* a small thick piece or ball of soft material for spreading POWDER on the face or body
**'powder room** *n* *euph* a women's public TOILET in a theatre, hotel, restaurant, big shop etc
**pow·der·y** /'paʊdəri/ *adj* 1 like or easily broken into powder: *powdery snow* 2 covered with powder
**Pow·ell, Anthony** /pəʊl/ (1905–2000) a British writer best known for his series of 12 novels *A Dance to the Music of Time* (1951–1975), which describes the lives of a group of UPPER-CLASS friends over a long period.
**Powell, Co·lin** /'paʊəl, 'kəʊlɪn/ (1937–) a US politician who became the first African American Secretary of State in 2001. He became famous as a military leader during the Gulf War of 1991.
**Powell, E·noch** /'i:nɒk||-'nɑːk/ (1912–98) a British politician in the CONSERVATIVE PARTY, who was a government minister in the early 1960s, and later left the Conservative Party and became an MP in Northern Ireland. He is remembered especially for a speech he made in 1968 in which he said that if the UK allowed too many black people to come and live there, there would be fighting and 'rivers of blood' in the streets. Although some people admired him for his intelligence, his PATRIOTISM, and his opposition to the EU (European Union), he was greatly criticized for this speech, because people believed that it encouraged RACIST attitudes.
**Powell, Michael** (1905–90) a British film director who made most of his films together with Emeric PRESSBURGER, including *The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp* (1943)
**pow·er¹** /'paʊər/ *n* 1 [S;U(over)] control over others; influence: *The power of governments has increased greatly over the past century.* | *The chairman