pound sign
- noun
- /paʊnd saɪn/
- Texting
:
almohadilla
- On many phones, press the pound sign after entering your extension to finish the call.
Examples
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The social media manager instructed us to use the pound sign only for campaign-related tags.
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To join the trend, she added the pound sign before the phrase to create a shared hashtag.
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Please add a pound sign before the number.
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The pound sign is often used in programming.
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On social media, you can create posts about your interests by adding a pound sign before keywords.
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To complete your phone menu selection, remember to press the pound sign once you finish entering your options.
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Many people use the pound sign to label their photos with hashtags during events.
Synonyms
5
3.5
The symbol '#' placed before a word to mark a topic on social media
1
9.9
A sign shown as # used on phones and social media
The sign '#' used before words to make hashtags and on phone keypads
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is compositionally a 'sign' related to 'pound', so a learner who knows both words will infer it denotes a symbol for something called "pound". However, the conventional target symbol varies by dialect/use (many speakers expect '£' for the currency while American usage often calls '#' the "pound sign"), so the specific reference to the hash/number symbol is a culturally-specific naming convention and not reliably predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
Pound sign # grew from a quick way to write the weight 'pound' long ago, when writers shortened 'pound' into a crossed mark that became #. Phone makers later called that mark the 'pound sign', so in American English pound sign now names # used for 'numbers' and tags.