pot

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pot1

▶noun

• 1 a rounded or cylindrical container used for storage or cooking.

  ■ a container designed to hold a particular substance: a coffee pot.

  ■ a flowerpot.

• 2 (the pot) the total sum of the bets made on a round in poker, brag, etc.

• 3 informal a prize in a sporting contest, especially a silver cup.

• 4 informal a pot belly.

• 5 informal an engine cylinder.

• 6 Billiards & Snooker a shot in which a player strikes a ball into a pocket.

▶verb (pots, potting, potted)

• 1 plant in a pot.

  ■ (pot something on) transplant a plant from a smaller pot to a larger one.

  ■ (pot something up) transplant a seedling into a flowerpot.

• 2 preserve (food) in a sealed pot or jar.

• 3 Billiards & Snooker strike (a ball) into a pocket.

• 4 informal hit or kill by shooting.

• 5 make pottery.

• 6 Brit. sit (a young child) on a potty.

• 7 encapsulate (an electrical component or circuit) in a liquid insulating material which sets solid.

– phrases
go to pot informal deteriorate through neglect.
the pot calling the kettle black used to convey that the criticisms a person is aiming at someone could equally well apply to themselves.

– derivatives
potful noun (pl. potfuls).

– origin OE pott, prob. reinforced in ME by OFr. pot; of unknown ultimate origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pot2

▶noun informal cannabis.

– origin 1930s: prob. from Mex. Sp. potiguaya ‘cannabis leaves’.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pot3

▶noun

• 1 a potshot.

• 2 (chiefly in rugby) an attempt to score a goal with a kick.

▶verb (pots, potting, potted) score (a goal).

– origin 1950s: abbrev. of potshot.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pot4

▶noun short for potentiometer.