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/poyn"teuhr/, n.1. a person or thing that points.2. a long, tapering stick used by teachers, lecturers, etc., in pointing things out on a map, blackboard, or the like.3. the hand on a watch dial, clock face, scale, etc.4. Mil. the member of an artillery crew who aims the weapon.5. one of a breed of short-haired hunting dogs trained to point game.6. a piece of advice, esp. on how to succeed in a specific area: The food expert gave some good pointers on making better salads.7. Computers. an identifier giving the location in storage of something of interest, as a data item, table, or subroutine.8. Pointers, Astron. the two outer stars of the Big Dipper that lie on a line that passes very near Polaris and are used for finding it.[1490-1500; POINT + -ER1]Syn. 6. tip, hint, suggestion, caution.
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Dog breed, of hound, spaniel, and setter ancestry, first recorded с 1650 in Great Britain and named for the dog's rigid posture in the direction of quarry.Pointers were originally used to point out hares and were later trained as bird dogs. The pointer stands 23–28 in. (58–71 cm) tall and weighs 50–75 lb (23–34 kg); it has a long muzzle, hanging ears, tapered tail, and a short, smooth coat, usually white with dark markings. The German short-haired pointer, another sporting breed, tracks, points, and retrieves; it is about the size of a pointer and has a short coat of solid liver colour or liver and gray-white.
German short-haired pointerSally Anne Thompson* * *
▪ breed of doghighly regarded breed of sporting dog of hound, spaniel, and setter ancestry. The pointer derives its name from its assumption of a rigid posture in the direction of the quarry it has located. First recorded about 1650, in England, the pointer was originally used to point out hares for greyhounds to track down. It was trained as a bird dog in the 18th century. Clean-cut, lithe, and powerful, it stands 23 to 28 inches (58 to 71 cm) and weighs 44 to 75 pounds (20 to 34 kg). It has a long muzzle, hanging ears, a tapered tail, and a short, smooth coat, usually white with black, liver-coloured, yellowish brown, or reddish brown markings.The German shorthaired pointer is another sporting breed. Developed in Germany, it is an all-purpose dog that can track game as well as point and retrieve game in water. It is about the size of a pointer and has a short coat of solid liver colour or liver and gray-white.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
