What's the difference between point and pointless?

Point


Definition:

  • (v. t. & i.) To appoint.
  • (n.) That which pricks or pierces; the sharp end of anything, esp. the sharp end of a piercing instrument, as a needle or a pin.
  • (n.) An instrument which pricks or pierces, as a sort of needle used by engravers, etchers, lace workers, and others; also, a pointed cutting tool, as a stone cutter's point; -- called also pointer.
  • (n.) Anything which tapers to a sharp, well-defined termination. Specifically: A small promontory or cape; a tract of land extending into the water beyond the common shore line.
  • (n.) The mark made by the end of a sharp, piercing instrument, as a needle; a prick.
  • (n.) An indefinitely small space; a mere spot indicated or supposed. Specifically: (Geom.) That which has neither parts nor magnitude; that which has position, but has neither length, breadth, nor thickness, -- sometimes conceived of as the limit of a line; that by the motion of which a line is conceived to be produced.
  • (n.) An indivisible portion of time; a moment; an instant; hence, the verge.
  • (n.) A mark of punctuation; a character used to mark the divisions of a composition, or the pauses to be observed in reading, or to point off groups of figures, etc.; a stop, as a comma, a semicolon, and esp. a period; hence, figuratively, an end, or conclusion.
  • (n.) Whatever serves to mark progress, rank, or relative position, or to indicate a transition from one state or position to another, degree; step; stage; hence, position or condition attained; as, a point of elevation, or of depression; the stock fell off five points; he won by tenpoints.
  • (n.) That which arrests attention, or indicates qualities or character; a salient feature; a characteristic; a peculiarity; hence, a particular; an item; a detail; as, the good or bad points of a man, a horse, a book, a story, etc.
  • (n.) Hence, the most prominent or important feature, as of an argument, discourse, etc.; the essential matter; esp., the proposition to be established; as, the point of an anecdote.
  • (n.) A small matter; a trifle; a least consideration; a punctilio.
  • (n.) A dot or mark used to designate certain tones or time
  • (n.) A dot or mark distinguishing or characterizing certain tones or styles; as, points of perfection, of augmentation, etc.; hence, a note; a tune.
  • (n.) A dot placed at the right hand of a note, to raise its value, or prolong its time, by one half, as to make a whole note equal to three half notes, a half note equal to three quarter notes.
  • (n.) A fixed conventional place for reference, or zero of reckoning, in the heavens, usually the intersection of two or more great circles of the sphere, and named specifically in each case according to the position intended; as, the equinoctial points; the solstitial points; the nodal points; vertical points, etc. See Equinoctial Nodal.
  • (n.) One of the several different parts of the escutcheon. See Escutcheon.
  • (n.) One of the points of the compass (see Points of the compass, below); also, the difference between two points of the compass; as, to fall off a point.
  • (n.) A short piece of cordage used in reefing sails. See Reef point, under Reef.
  • (n.) A a string or lace used to tie together certain parts of the dress.
  • (n.) Lace wrought the needle; as, point de Venise; Brussels point. See Point lace, below.
  • (n.) A switch.
  • (n.) An item of private information; a hint; a tip; a pointer.
  • (n.) A fielder who is stationed on the off side, about twelve or fifteen yards from, and a little in advance of, the batsman.
  • (n.) The attitude assumed by a pointer dog when he finds game; as, the dog came to a point. See Pointer.
  • (n.) A standard unit of measure for the size of type bodies, being one twelfth of the thickness of pica type. See Point system of type, under Type.
  • (n.) A tyne or snag of an antler.
  • (n.) One of the spaces on a backgammon board.
  • (n.) A movement executed with the saber or foil; as, tierce point.
  • (n.) To give a point to; to sharpen; to cut, forge, grind, or file to an acute end; as, to point a dart, or a pencil. Used also figuratively; as, to point a moral.
  • (n.) To direct toward an abject; to aim; as, to point a gun at a wolf, or a cannon at a fort.
  • (n.) Hence, to direct the attention or notice of.
  • (n.) To supply with punctuation marks; to punctuate; as, to point a composition.
  • (n.) To mark (as Hebrew) with vowel points.
  • (n.) To give particular prominence to; to designate in a special manner; to indicate, as if by pointing; as, the error was pointed out.
  • (n.) To indicate or discover by a fixed look, as game.
  • (n.) To fill up and finish the joints of (a wall), by introducing additional cement or mortar, and bringing it to a smooth surface.
  • (n.) To cut, as a surface, with a pointed tool.
  • (v. i.) To direct the point of something, as of a finger, for the purpose of designating an object, and attracting attention to it; -- with at.
  • (v. i.) To indicate the presence of game by fixed and steady look, as certain hunting dogs do.
  • (v. i.) To approximate to the surface; to head; -- said of an abscess.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Single-case experimental designs are presented and discussed from several points of view: Historical antecedents, assessment of the dependent variable, internal and external validity and pre-experimental vs experimental single-case designs.
  • (2) Well tolerated from the clinical and laboratory points of view, it proved remarkably effective.
  • (3) We are pursuing legal action because there are still so many unanswered questions about the viability of Shenhua’s proposed koala plan and it seems at this point the plan does not guarantee the survival of the estimated 262 koalas currently living where Shenhua wants to put its mine,” said Ranclaud.
  • (4) She knows you can’t force the opposition to submit to your point of view.
  • (5) The isoelectric points (pI) of E1 and E2 for all VEE strains studied were approx.
  • (6) Ofcom will conduct research, such as mystery shopping, to assess the transparency of contractual information given to customers by providers at the point of sale".
  • (7) Fifty-two pairs of canine femora were tested to failure in four-point bending.
  • (8) A one point dilution enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) procedure suitable for determining immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody levels to Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) in community seroepidemiological surveys is described.
  • (9) Subsequent isoelectric focusing in sucrose revealed an isoelectric point of 9.0-9.2.
  • (10) Gross deformity, point tenderness and decrease in supination and pronation movements of the forearm were the best predictors of bony injury.
  • (11) Whole-virus vaccines prepared by Merck Sharp and Dohme (West Point, Pa.) and Merrell-National Laboratories (Cincinnati, Ohio) and subunit vaccines prepared by Parke, Davis and Company (Detroit, Mich.) and Wyeth Laboratories (Philadelphia, Pa.) were given intramuscularly in concentrations of 800, 400, or 200 chick cell-agglutinating units per dose.
  • (12) A Monte Carlo simulation was performed to characterize the spatial and energy distribution of bremsstrahlung radiation from beta point sources important to radioimmunotherapy (RIT).
  • (13) From the social economic point of view nosocomial infections represent a very important cost factor, which could be reduced to great deal by activities for prevention of nosocomial infection.
  • (14) He said Germany was Russia’s most important economic partner, and pointed out that 35% of German gas originated in Russia.
  • (15) Many examples are given to demonstrate the applications of these programs, and special emphasis has been laid on the problem of treating a point in tissue with different doses per fraction on alternate treatment days.
  • (16) In 11 of the 22 cells PAI-1 mRNA and in 6 of the 22 cells PAI-2 mRNA was found, pointing to a possible role of plasminogen activator inhibitors in the tumor-related plasminogen activator activity.
  • (17) Sequence specific binding of protein extracts from 13 different yeast species to three oligonucleotide probes and two points mutants derived from Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA binding proteins were tested using mobility shift assays.
  • (18) Recent studies point to the involvement of regulatory peptides in diseases of the gut and lung.
  • (19) The positive predictive accuracy of a biophysical profile score of 0, with mortality and morbidity used as end points, was 100%.
  • (20) The starting point is the idea that the current system, because it works against biodiversity but fails to increase productivity, is broken.

Pointless


Definition:

  • (a.) Having no point; blunt; wanting keenness; obtuse; as, a pointless sword; a pointless remark.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The citizenship debate is tawdry, conflated and ultimately pointless | Richard Ackland Read more On Wednesday, the prime minister criticised lawyers for backing terrorists.
  • (2) It’s the same story over and over.” Children’s author Philip Ardagh , who told the room he once worked as an “unprofessional librarian” in Lewisham, said: “Closing down a library is like filing off the end of a swordfish’s nose: pointless.” 'Speak up before there's nothing left': authors rally for National Libraries Day Read more “Today proves that support for public libraries comes from all walks of life and it’s not rocket science to work out why.
  • (3) But now the document turns crazily surreal, like the pointless war itself.
  • (4) And David Ngog was a pointless signing too – one which puzzled us all.
  • (5) "It is pointless to think sovereign bond rates could be brought down for an extended period of time by outside interventions," said Draghi.
  • (6) They aren't pointless; apart from any craft they may teach, they can also offer connections and contacts – a "way in" – which is the modern essential of anyone trying to start a career.
  • (7) An Australian family that lost three children and a grandfather in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has published an emotional tribute calling for an end to the “pointless war” in eastern Ukraine.
  • (8) People are criticising what we are doing as pointless and saying we won’t achieve anything, but history has shown us that is not the case,” student leader Joshua Wong told the crowd last week.
  • (9) It is pointless to go back over the missed opportunities, but an essential part of the design of this regional conference is that it should be able to be supported by Russia and China as well as the US.
  • (10) Hoodies don't vote, they've realised it's pointless, that whoever gets elected will just be a different shade of the "we don't give a toss about you" party.
  • (11) Bojórquez, the editor, says that for the moment the risks are manageable within his commitment to the idea that journalism is pointless unless it informs.
  • (12) The others are either infuriatingly vague (“An NHS with time to care”) or pointlessly catch-all (“A country where the next generation can do better than the last”).
  • (13) Especially when there’s no funeral to go to, just an endless stream of pointless review meetings.
  • (14) "If this doesn't bring down mortgage rates for 95% loans then the whole thing is completely pointless," he said.
  • (15) To express guarded optimism about the Greek deal is not to condone the provocative arrogance of former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis or the pointless vindictiveness of the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble .
  • (16) The PCC came under fire last week from the editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, who branded its report on phone hacking at the News of the World "worse than pointless".
  • (17) 3 Don’t be afraid to talk about corruption Poverty overseas is often associated with corruption: 67% of the British public think that government corruption makes donating to reduce poverty “pointless” (up from 48% in 2008), according to research from Jennifer and David Hudson.
  • (18) But it's a pointless endeavour if the fundraising activity contributes to and compounds the culture in which our breasts are only relevant if they're being admired by someone else's eyes.
  • (19) Quibbling over whether fashion is more or less important than art is just as pointless as questioning whether or not it is art.
  • (20) Why should Paris or Berlin waste political capital - they have suspicious voters too - on concessions to Britain when it may all be pointless?