pointer

noun10

1. •
   Anything that points or is used for pointing.
2. •
   One who points.

   • The talkers and pointers had undermined him. They had touched him with the acid of their suspicions, and the corrosion spread until he himself had lost sight of the truth. — 1972
3. •
   A teacher's pointer, pointing stick, a rod with an arrow.
4. •
   A needlelike component of a timepiece or measuring device that indicates the time or the current reading of the device.
5. •
   A variable that holds the address of a memory location where a value can be stored.

   • I do consider assignment statements and pointer variables to be among computer science's "most valuable treasures." — 1974
6. •
   An icon that indicates the position of the pointing device, such as a mouse.

   • The system notifies the user of the progress of a task by changing the appearance of the pointer. System-busy pointers usually adopt a timepiece metaphor. — 1995
7. •
   [in the plural] A tip, a bit of advice.

   • The instructor gave me some pointers on writing a good paper.
8. •
   Any of several breeds of hunting dog, trained to point out game; an individual of such a breed.
9. •
   Something worth a given number of points.

   • After another penalty miss, Kvirikashvili finally found the target on 27 minutes before Flood hit back with a three-pointer of his own. — 2011
10. •
    Something that gives a point (sharp end) to something.