po
part of speech
noun (a po, pos — UK old-fashioned); abbreviation (PO, P.O.); also a name (the Po)
meaning for a pupil
1) (UK, old-fashioned, informal) A po is a chamber pot: a bowl kept under the bed to wee in at night in the days before indoor toilets. tree →
2) (abbreviation) PO stands for Post Office, as in «PO Box», a box at the post office where letters can be collected; also «purchase order» in business and «petty officer» in the navy. tree →
3) (a name) The Po is the longest river in Italy. tree →
4) (Mandarin, pinyin) «pó» means grandmother on the mother's side in «pópo» (Cantonese and Mandarin speakers also say this), and «pō» means slope; it sounds like «paw». tree →
5) (a name) Po is a character's name, like the red Teletubby and the panda in «Kung Fu Panda». tree →
sense in the lessons
In history lessons about Victorian and Tudor homes, people used a po or chamber pot at night and emptied it in the morning. In everyday life a PO Box is an address for letters. In geography, the River Po flows across northern Italy to the Adriatic Sea. In stories and cartoons, Po is a name. Phrases: PO Box, chamber pot, the River Po, po-faced (UK: serious and disapproving).
examples
- In Victorian times, people kept a po under the bed. tree →
- Send your entry to PO Box 25. tree →
- The River Po flows across northern Italy. tree →
- Po is the panda in «Kung Fu Panda». tree →
- Po was the smallest Teletubby. tree →
- (UK, informal) The teacher looked po-faced when we laughed in assembly. tree →
- The chamber pot was also called a po. tree →
- The farmland around the Po is very flat and rich. tree →
note
As «chamber pot», «po» is old and slightly funny; plural «pos». As an abbreviation it is in capitals: PO, P.O. «Po-faced» (UK, informal) means looking very serious and not amused. In pinyin, tones change the meaning; «po» alone is not English. Context tells you which meaning is meant.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «po» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.