▪ I. pointed, ppl. a.1
(ˈpɔɪntɪd)
[f. point v.1 and n.1 + -ed.]
1. a. Having a point or points; tapering to or ending in a point. pointed box: see quot. 1881.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6342 Smot him..Wiþ a long ipointed [v.r. pointed] knif iegged in eiþer side. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xiv. 158 Thei [diamonds] ben square and poynted of here owne kynde. 1552 Huloet, Poynted, or hauynge a poynte, cuspidatus, mucronatus. 1575 Laneham Let. (1871) 51 Beautifyed with great Diamons, Emerauds, Rubyes, and Saphyres: poynted, tabld, rok, and roound. 1725 Coats Dict. Her., Pointed, a Cross pointed, is that which has the Extremities turn'd off into Points by strait Lines. 1747 Franklin Lett. Wks. 1887 II. 67 The wonderful effect of pointed bodies, both in drawing off and throwing off the electrical fire. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxii. 158, I saw a row of pointed rocks at some distance below me. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Pointed boxes, boxes in the form of inverted pyramids or wedges in which ores, after crushing and sizing, are separated in a current of water. |
b. Arch. In pointed arch, an arch with a pointed crown; hence applied to the style of architecture characterized by this feature: cf. Gothic 3 b.
| 1750 S. Wren in Parentalia 273 They had not yet fallen into the Gothick pointed-arch. 1812 Rickman Archit. (1817) 41 Pointed arches are either equilateral..or drop arches..or lancet arches. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. Gloss., Pointed architecture, that style vulgarly called Gothic, more properly English. 1848 B. Webb Cont. Ecclesiol. 47 The apse-windows are late Pointed, of two lights trefoiled. 1874 Parker Goth. Archit. i. ii. 21 The First Pointed style in England is..the style of the twelfth century. a 1878 Sir G. G. Scott Lect. Archit. (1879) I. 18 The round-arch variety [was perfected] in the twelfth, and the pointed-arch in the two succeeding centuries. |
2. fig. Having the quality of penetrating or piercing the sensations, feelings, or mind; piercing, cutting, stinging, pungent, ‘sharp’; having point.
| 1665 Dryden Ind. Emperor i. ii, Turn hence those pointed Glories of your Eyes. 1701 De Foe True-born Eng. 3 'Tis pointed Truth must manage this Dispute. a 1704 T. Brown Sat. on Quack Wks. 1730 I. 62 Th' impartial muse, in pointed stabbing verse, Shall all thy several villanies rehearse. 1769 Sir W. Jones Pal. Fortune Poems (1777) 25 A weak defence from hunger's pointed sting. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 92 Some put their trust in answer smart or pointed repartee. 1882 Stevenson New Arab. Nts. (1884) 245 The air was raw and pointed. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 10 May 2/3 The most pointed thing to say about a person is that he ‘means well’. 1904 E. Rickert Reaper 261 A wee thing with pointed black eyes. |
3. Fitted or furnished with tagged points or laces; wearing points; laced. Obs. exc. Hist.
| 1508 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scotl. IV. 21 For xj elne satin to be ane pointit cote to the King. 1552 Huloet, Poynted, or tyed wyth poyntes, ligulatus. 1904 M. Hewlett Queen's Quair i. vi, Young men, trunked, puffed, pointed, trussed and doubleted. |
4. a. Directed, aimed; fig. particularly directed or aimed; marked, emphasized, clearly defined, made evident.
| 1578 Whetstone 2nd Pt. Promos & Cass. i. i. G iij, So ofte as men, with poynted fingers tell Their friendes, my faultes. 1778 F. Burney Evelina (1791) II. xxvii. 167 His attention..is so pointed, that it always confuses me. 1798 Jane Austen Northang. Abb. xxix, Only ten days ago had he elated her by his pointed regard. 1870 Freeman Norm. Conq. I. App. 646 The pointed marking out of Thored as ‘Eorl’..is an unusual piece of accuracy. |
b. Exact to a point; precise.
| 1727 P. Walker Life Peden (1827) 85, I doubt nothing of the Truth of them in my own Mind, tho' I be not pointed in Time and Place. 1860 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. III. cxv. 48 The identical member..who was most pointed in showing up the dishonesty of the act inculpated. 1878 Gladstone Prim. Homer vi. 63 Its harbour is described with pointed correctness. 1893 Mrs. Oliphant Lady William I. viii. 130 How often must I tell you not to be so pointed with your half-hours? |
5. a. In various other senses of the verb: see quots.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 406/2 Poyntyd, or prykkyd, punctatus. 1659 J. Leak Waterwks. 29 Another marked with pointed lines. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 168/2 Pointed Ashlar, the face-marking done by a pointed tool or one very narrow. a 1907 Mod. Such is the reading of the pointed Hebrew text. 1934 Priebsch & Collinson German Lang. 357 In German documents it [sc. Anglo-Saxon type] occurs usually in the pointed (Lowe: miniscule) form. 1947 Hansard Commons 15 Dec. 1451 Mr. Lipson asked..if smaller tins of pointed foodstuffs can be provided. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 664/2 The pointed runes were generally known and used in the whole of the Scandinavian North throughout the Middle Ages as the writing of cultured laymen. |
b. pointed blanket = point blanket.
| 1779 in Beaver (1935) June 47 Sends samples of five different sorts of Pointed blankets with their respective prices per pair. 1780 in E. E. Rich Moose Fort Jrnl., 1783–85 356 We now send..pointed Blankets of different sizes..to be delivered to him. 1926 [see point blanket s.v. point n.1 D. 19]. 1956 Beaver Summer 50 It can be no coincidence that while Maugenest was in London enquiries were put in hand for Pointed blankets. |
c. pointed fox: (see quots.). Cf. point v.1 20.
| 1911 Directory Fur Trade (N.Y.) 11 Fine Kamchatka and American Foxes in Sitka, Pointed, Black and Baumarten. 1913 J. W. Jones Fur-Farming in Canada iv. 100 Latterly, the Germans have developed a large trade in ‘pointed fox’, which is an ordinary cheap fox dyed black, and afterwards ‘pointed’ by sewing in white hairs. 1939 M. Byers Designing Women iii. xix. 250 Pointed Fox is red fox dyed black with white hairs stuck into it artificially. 1952 Lapick & Gelle Scientific Fur Servicing 7 In pointed fox the inserted hairs are generally all white. 1969 R. T. Wilcox Dict. Costume (1970) 142/1 Fox, pointed, the common red fox dyed black and pointed with silvery badger hairs to simulate silver fox. |
6. Comb., as pointed-arched, pointed-butted, pointed-toed adjs., pointed-wise adv.
| 1611 Florio, A sp{iacu}cchio, made pointed-wise, like the streakes of the Sunne. 1891 ‘L. Malet’ Wages of Sin III. v. vi. 33 Presenting his cousin with a fine view of a pointed-toed shoe sole. 1900 in Archæol. Jrnl. Mar. 66 The wide pointed-arched window in the west wall. 1928 Peake & Fleure Steppe & Sown iii. 46 Pointed-butted axes of jadeite and other hard stone came into use as well as flint. 1962 Times 30 Jan. 12/5 Pointed-toed backless shoes. |
▪ II. † ˈpointed, ppl. a.2 Obs.
[f. point v.2 + -ed1.]
= appointed.
| 1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 420 Before the quenes grace, In whose court poynted is your place. 1580 Sidney Ps. xxi. xii, Thou shalt a-row Set them in pointed places. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iii. i. 19 Ile not be tied to howres, nor pointed times. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 152 At pointed Seasons. 1709 Prior Ode to Col. Villiers 17 Poems (1711) 136 Pow'r, To hasten or protract the pointed Hour. |