noun
pointer
POYN-tuh
noun
1
A useful tip or piece of advice.
"She gave me a few pointers on how to improve my resume."
2
A rod or object used to indicate something, such as on a chart or screen.
"He used a laser pointer to highlight the chart during his presentation."
3
A breed of hunting dog trained to signal the location of game by standing still and facing toward it.
"Their pointer froze in the field the moment it caught the scent."
4
In computing, a variable that stores the memory address of another value.
"The bug was caused by a pointer referencing memory that had already been freed."
How to Use Pointer
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA helpful tip, a device or dog that indicates direction, or (in programming) a variable holding a memory address.
Common pairings
helpful pointer
laser pointer
null pointer
Word Forms
pointers plural, Pointers plural
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Etymology
From point + -er.