pot1

[pot] /pɒt/
noun
1.
a container of earthenware, metal, etc., usually round and deep and having a handle or handles and often a lid, used for cooking, serving, and other purposes.
2.
such a container with its contents:
a pot of stew.
3.
the amount contained in or held by a pot; potful.
4.
a flowerpot.
5.
a container of liquor or other drink:
a pot of ale.
6.
liquor or other drink.
7.
a cagelike vessel for trapping fish, lobsters, eels, etc., typically made of wood, wicker, or wire.
Compare lobster pot.
8.
a chamber pot.
9.
Metallurgy.
  1. a vessel for melting metal; melting pot.
  2. an electrolytic cell for reducing certain metals, as aluminum, from fused salts.
10.
British.
  1. chimney pot.
  2. Dialect. a basket or box used for carrying provisions or the like; a pannier.
11.
Slang. a large sum of money.
12.
all the money bet at a single time; pool.
13.
British Slang. (in horse racing) the favorite.
14.
potshot.
15.
a liquid measure, usually equal to a pint or quart.
16.
Armor.
  1. an open, broad-brimmed helmet of the 17th century.
  2. any open helmet.
17.
Slang. a potbelly.
verb (used with object), potted, potting.
18.
to put into a pot.
19.
to preserve (food) in a pot.
20.
to cook in a pot.
21.
to transplant into a pot:
We must pot the petunias.
22.
Hunting.
  1. to shoot (game birds) on the ground or water, or (game animals) at rest, instead of in flight or running:
    He can't even pot a sitting duck.
  2. to shoot for food, not for sport.
23.
Informal. to capture, secure, or win.
verb (used without object), potted, potting.
24.
Informal. to take a potshot; shoot.
Idioms
25.
go to pot, to become ruined; deteriorate:
With no one to care for it, the lovely old garden went to pot.
26.
sweeten the pot. sweeten (def 8).
Origin
1150-1200; Middle English pott (see potter1); cognate with Dutch, Low German pot (perhaps > French pot)
Related forms
potlike, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for go to pot

pot1

/pɒt/
noun
1.
a container made of earthenware, glass, or similar material; usually round and deep, often having a handle and lid, used for cooking and other domestic purposes
2.
short for flowerpot, teapot
3.
the amount that a pot will hold; potful
4.
a chamber pot, esp a small one designed for a baby or toddler
5.
a handmade piece of pottery
6.
a large mug or tankard, as for beer
7.
(Austral) any of various measures used for serving beer
8.
(informal) a cup or trophy, esp of silver, awarded as a prize in a competition
9.
the money or stakes in the pool in gambling games, esp poker
10.
(often pl) (informal) a large amount, esp of money
11.
a wicker trap for catching fish, esp crustaceans: a lobster pot
12.
(billiards, snooker) a shot by which a ball is pocketed
13.
(mainly Brit) short for chimneypot
14.
(US, informal) a joint fund created by a group of individuals or enterprises and drawn upon by them for specified purposes
15.
(hunting) See pot shot
16.
See potbelly
17.
go to pot, to go to ruin; deteriorate
verb (mainly transitive) pots, potting, potted
18.
to set (a plant) in a flowerpot to grow
19.
to put or preserve (goods, meat, etc) in a pot
20.
to cook (food) in a pot
21.
to shoot (game) for food rather than for sport
22.
to shoot (game birds or animals) while they are on the ground or immobile rather than flying or running
23.
(also intransitive) to shoot casually or without careful aim at (an animal, etc)
24.
to sit (a baby or toddler) on a chamber pot
25.
(also intransitive) to shape clay as a potter
26.
(billiards, snooker) to pocket (a ball)
27.
(informal) to capture or win; secure
See also pot on
Word Origin
Late Old English pott, from Medieval Latin pottus (unattested), perhaps from Latin pōtus a drink; compare Middle Low German pot, Old Norse pottr

pot2

/pɒt/
noun
1.
  1. (Scot & Northern English, dialect) a deep hole or pothole
  2. (capital when part of a name): Pen-y-Ghent Pot
Word Origin
C14: perhaps identical with pot1 but possibly of Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish dialect putt water hole, pit

pot3

/pɒt/
noun
1.
(slang) cannabis used as a drug in any form, such as leaves (marijuana or hemp) or resin (hashish)
Word Origin
C20: perhaps shortened from Mexican Indian potiguaya

pot4

/pɒt/
noun
1.
(informal) short for potentiometer
Word Origin and History for go to pot

pot

n.

"vessel," from late Old English pott and Old French pot "pot, container, mortar" (also in erotic senses), both from a general Low Germanic (cf. Old Frisian pott, Middle Dutch pot) and Romanic word from Vulgar Latin *pottus, of uncertain origin, said by Barnhart and OED to be unconnected to Late Latin potus "drinking cup." Celtic forms are said to be borrowed from English and French.

Slang meaning "large sum of money staked on a bet" is attested from 1823. Pot roast is from 1881; phrase go to pot (16c.) suggests cooking. In phrases, the pot calls the kettle black-arse is from c.1700; shit or get off the pot is traced by Partridge to Canadian armed forces in World War II.

"marijuana," 1938, probably a shortened form of Mexican Spanish potiguaya "marijuana leaves."

v.

"to put in a pot," 1610s, from pot (n.1). Related: Potted; potting. Earlier it meant "to drink from a pot" (1590s).

go to pot in Culture

go to pot definition


To decline or deteriorate: “Since most of the businesses moved out to the suburbs, my old neighborhood has really gone to pot.”

Slang definitions & phrases for go to pot

go to pot

verb phrase

To deteriorate; worsen; go downhill, go to hell: A group of men who had literally and figuratively let themselves go to pot get back into good physical condition/ A middle-aged man going to pot gets more than muscle tone from heavy exercise

[1831+; fr the condition of an animal no longer useful for breeding, egg-laying, etc, that will now be cooked in the pot]


pot 2

modifier

: a pot party

noun

Marijuana; grass, tea: Most of the parties I had been invited to recently, pot had been passed around freely

[1930s+ Narcotics; perhaps fr Mexican Spanish potiguaya, ''marijuana leaves'']


pot 3

noun

A potentiometer (1940s+)


pot 1

noun
  1. The total amount bet on a hand of poker or some other gambling matter; kitty: The goulashes' takeout was 5 percent of the pot (1847+ Gambling)
  2. A rather obnoxious person, esp an unattractive woman; pill: one of the pots that sat at the table (1930+)
  3. beer belly, potbelly (1928+)
  4. A carburetor (1941+)
  5. A car engine (1950s+ Hot rodders)
  6. A locomotive (1930+ Railroad)
verb

To shoot: He potted a woodchuck (1860+)

Related Terms

go to pot, not have a pot to piss in, rumpot, sexpot, a shitload, tinpot

[all senses fr cooking pot, as something containing a pot-luck mess of food, something sooty and unattractive, something fat-looking, something to be filled by hitting the hunt's prey, etc]


Idioms and Phrases with go to pot

go to pot

Also,
go to the dogs
. Deteriorate, decline; come to a bad end. For example,
My lawn has gone to pot during the drought
, or
The city schools are going to the dogs
. The first of these colloquial expressions dates from the late 1500s and alludes to inferior pieces of meat being cut up for the stewpot. The second, from the 1600s, alludes to the traditional view of dogs as inferior creatures. Also see

pot

In addition to the idiom beginning with
pot
also see: