pod´like´

pod ¹ «pod», noun, verb, pod|ded, pod|ding.

–n.

1. a shell or case in which plants such as beans and peas grow their seeds; legume or silique. A pod consists of two parts hinged together.

2. any dry, dehiscent pericarp, usually having several seeds, whether of one carpel or of several.

3. a streamlined cover over anything carried externally, especially on the wings or fuselage of an aircraft: »

a gun pod or missile pod.

4. a) the case enclosing the eggs of a grasshopper. b) any egg case or sac.

5. a) a detachable compartment or individual unit; cubicle: »

Her office was a six-by-six pod in a room shared by a dozen assistants.

b) a section of enclosed units, especially in a prison.

–v.i.

1. to bear or produce pods.

2. to fill out into a pod.

–v.t.

to empty out of the pods; shell (peas).

╂[origin uncertain. Compare earlier podder, variant of podware food crops.]

–pod´like´, adjective.

pod ² «pod», noun.

1. a small herd, as of seals and whales.

2. a small flock of birds.

3. a group of people clustered together: »

Surrounded by their new crop of advisers—the kind of ubiquitous pod that often sprouts around average people who are thrust into the news (New York Times); a scruffy pod of homeless people sitting around a fire (New York Times).

pod ³ «pod», noun.

1. the straight groove in the body of certain augers and bits.

2. the socket in a brace in which the bit is inserted.

╂[origin uncertain. Compare Old English pād a covering]

p.o.d.,

pay on delivery.

P.O.D.,

Post Office Department.