| point system test types | A near-vision test chart in which the various test types are multiples of a point (1/72 inch), lower-case letters being one-half the designated point size; reading 4-point at 16 inches is normal, and is designated N-4. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| point tenderness | <clinical sign> A finding on physical examination that can indicate a localised inflammatory process due to injury or disease. Point tenderness will be discovered over fracture sites (in bone injury). (27 Sep 1997) |
| point-of-care systems | Laboratory and other services provided to patients at the bedside. These include diagnostic and laboratory testing using automated information entry systems. (12 Dec 1998) |
| point-spread function | <microscopy> The mathematical representation of the image of a point source. For a diffraction-limited optical system operating in the absence of aberrations, the point-spread function is the Airy disk. See: three-dimensional diffraction pattern. (05 Aug 1998) |
| pointal | 1. <botany> The pistil of a plant. 2. A kind of pencil or style used with the tablets of the Middle Ages. "A pair of tablets [i. E, tablets] . . . And a pointel." 3. See Poyntel. Origin: From Point: cf. F. Pointal an upright wooden prop, OF. Pointille a prick or prickle. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| pointed | 1. Sharp; having a sharp point; as, a pointed rock. 2. Characterised by sharpness, directness, or pithiness of expression; terse; epigrammatic; especially, directed to a particular person or thing. "His moral pleases, not his pointed wit." (Pope) Pointed arch, a name given to that style of architecture in which the pointed arch is the predominant feature; more commonly called Gothic. Point"edly, Point"edness. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| pointed condyloma | An obsolete term for condyloma acuminatum. (05 Mar 2000) |
| pointer | One who, or that which, points. Specifically: The hand of a timepiece. <zoology> One of a breed of dogs trained to stop at scent of game, and with the nose point it out to sportsmen. <astronomy> Diagonal braces sometimes fixed across the hold. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| pointillage | A massage manipulation with the tips of the fingers. Origin: Fr. Dotting, stippling (05 Mar 2000) |
| pointing | Preparing to open spontaneously, said of an abscess or a boil. (05 Mar 2000) |
| pointleted | <botany> Having a small, distinct point; apiculate. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| points of convergence | <microscopy> In colour video cameras and monitors, the precise alignment of the images or pictures in the three primary colours (red, green and blue). A lack of convergence gives rise to asymmetrically coloured fringes. (05 Aug 1998) |
| points, conjugate | <microscopy> The pair of points on the principal axis of a mirror or lens so located that light emitted from either point will be focused at the other. Related points in the object and image are located optically so that one is the image of the other. See: polarizing element (05 Aug 1998) |
| median mandibular point | <anatomy> A point on the anteroposterior centre of the mandibular ridge in the median sagittal plane. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| central-bearing point | The contact point of a central-bearing device. (05 Mar 2000) |
| retention point | A provision made within a cavity preparation of a tooth to hold in place the first pieces of gold when placing a direct gold restoration. (05 Mar 2000) |
| melting point | The temperature at which a solid becomes a liquid, the temperature at which 50% of a macromolecule becomes denatured. (05 Mar 2000) |
| mental point | In craniometry, the most anterior point on the mandible in the midline; the most anterior, prominent point on the chin. Synonym: mental point. Origin: G. Dim. Of pogon, beard (05 Mar 2000) |
| Gueneau de Mussy's point | A point, painful on pressure, at the junction of a line prolonging the left border of the sternum and a horizontal line at the level of end of the bony portion of the tenth rib; it is present in cases of diaphragmatic pleurisy. (05 Mar 2000) |
| metopic point | A craniometric point midway between the frontal eminences. Synonym: metopic point. Origin: G. Metopon, forehead (05 Mar 2000) |
| Clado's point | A point at the junction of the interspinous and right semilunar lines, at the lateral border of the rectus abdominis muscle, where marked tenderness on pressure is felt in some cases of appendicitis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cold-rigor point | The degree of lowered temperature at which the activity of a cell ceases and the cell passes into the narcotic or hibernating state. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Weber's point | A point situated 1 cm below the promontory of the sacrum; believed by Weber to represent the centre of gravity of the body. (05 Mar 2000) |
| motor point | A point on the skin where the application of an electrical stimulus, via an electrode, will cause the contraction of an underlying muscle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| conjugate point | A point so related to another that an object at one is imaged at the other. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Munro's point | A point at the right edge of the rectus abdominis muscle, between the umbilicus and the anterior superior spine of the ilium, where pressure elicits tenderness in appendicitis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| contact point | That part of the proximal surface of a tooth which touches the adjacent tooth mesially or distally. Synonym: contact point, point of proximal contact. (05 Mar 2000) |
| critical point | A point at which two phases become identical; thus, at a given critical temperature and critical pressure, the liquid and gaseous state of a particular substance can no longer be differentiated. (05 Mar 2000) |