1. Any of various usually domestic containers made of pottery, metal, or glass, as:
   1. A round, fairly deep cooking vessel with a handle and often a lid.
   2. A short round container for storing or serving food: a jam pot; a mustard pot.
   3. A coffeepot.
   4. A teapot.
2. 1. Such a container and its contents: a pot of stew; brewed a pot of coffee.
   2. A potful.
3. 1. A large drinking cup; a tankard.
   2. A drink of liquor contained in such a cup.
4. An artistic or decorative ceramic vessel of any shape.
5. A flowerpot.
6. Something, such as a chimney pot or chamber pot, that resembles a round cooking vessel in appearance or function.
7. A trap for eels, other fish, or crustaceans, typically consisting of a wicker or wire basket or cage.
8. Games.
   1. The total amount staked by all the players in one hand at cards. See synonyms at bet.
   2. The area on a card table where stakes are placed.
   3. A shot in billiards or related games intended to send a ball into a pocket.
9. Informal. A common fund to which members of a group contribute.
10. Informal. A large amount. Often used in the plural: made pots of money on their investment.
11. Informal. A potshot.
12. Informal. A potbelly.
13. Informal. A potty or toilet.
14. See potentiometer (sense 2).

1. To place or plant in a pot: pot a geranium.
2. To preserve (food) in a pot.
3. To cook in a pot.
4. To shoot (game) for food rather than for sport.
5. Informal. To shoot with a potshot.
6. Informal. To win or capture; bag.
7. Games. To hit (a ball) into a pocket.

1. Informal. To take a potshot.
2. To make or shape objects from clay, as on a potter's wheel.

[Middle English, from Old English pott, from Vulgar Latin *pottus.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.