Pore or pour?
pore is a noun meaning “A tiny opening in the skin”; pour is a verb meaning “To cause (liquid, or liquid-like substance) to flow in a stream, either out of…”. Use pore as a noun and pour as a verb (pour is also a noun: “The act of pouring”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) pour is about 6.6 times as common as pore.
What is the difference between pore and pour?
| pore | pour | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb, suffix | verb, noun |
| Meaning | A tiny opening in the skin By extension any small opening or interstice, especially one of many, or one allowing the passage of a fluid To study meticulously; to go over again and again | To cause (liquid, or liquid-like substance) to flow in a stream, either out of a container or into it To send out as in a stream or a flood; to cause (an emotion) to come out; to cause to escape The act of pouring |
| Example | I could sense the sweat dripping out of all my pores | pour water from a jug |
| Forms | pores | pours, pouring, poured |
| Pronunciation | /pɔː(ɹ)/ /poɹ/ /po(ː)ɹ/ | /pɔː/ /poɹ/ /po(ː)ɹ/ |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words | 13 times per million words |
Sources: pore and pour in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of pore and pour
pore
- 1
A tiny opening in the skin
I could sense the sweat dripping out of all my pores
- 2
To study meticulously; to go over again and again
- 3
Used to form the names of cities and towns, especially in South Asia and Southeast Asia
- 4
By extension any small opening or interstice, especially one of many, or one allowing the passage of a fluid
the pores of a rock
- 5
To meditate or reflect in a steady way
pour
- 1
To cause (liquid, or liquid-like substance) to flow in a stream, either out of a container or into it
pour water from a jug
- 2
The act of pouring
The bartender's inexpert pour left me with a pint of beer that was half foam
- 3
To send out as in a stream or a flood; to cause (an emotion) to come out; to cause to escape
My teacher poured scorn on my attempts at writing
- 4
Something, or an amount, poured
- 5
To send forth from, as in a stream; to discharge uninterruptedly
- 6
colloquialA downpour; a flood of precipitation
- 7
To flow, pass, or issue in a stream; to fall continuously and abundantly
the rain poured down
- 8
To rain hard
It's pouring outside
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, pore or pour?
pore appears 1.9 times per million words; pour 13 times per million words.
pore 1.9 times per million wordspour 13 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search pore vs pour?
“pore vs pour” is searched about 390 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“pour vs pore”, “pore or pour”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.