POOR, adjective [Latin pauper.]

1. Wholly destitute of property, or not having property sufficient for a comfortable subsistence; needy. It is often synonymous with indigent, and with necessitous, denoting extreme want; it is also applied to persons who are not entirely destitute of property, but are not rich; as a poor man or woman; poor people

2. In law, so destitute of property as to be entitled to maintenance from the public.

3. Destitute of strength, beauty or dignity; barren; mean; jejune; as a poor composition; a poor essay; a poor discourse.

4. Destitute of value, worth or importance; of little use; trifling.

That I have wronged no man, will be a poor plea or apology at the last day.

5. Paltry; mean; of little value; as a poor coat; a poor house.

6. Destitute of fertility; barren; exhausted; as poor land. The ground is become poor

7. Of little worth; unimportant; as in my poor opinion.

8. Unhappy; pitiable.

Vex'd sailors curse the rain

For which poor shepherds pray'd in vain.

9. Mean; depressed; low; dejected; destitute of spirit.

A soothsayer made Antonius believe that his genius, which was otherwise brave, was, in the presence of Octavianus, poor and cowardly.

10. Lean; emaciated; as a poor horse. The ox is poor

11. Small, or of a bad quality; as a poor crop; a poor harvest.

12. Uncomfortable; restless; ill. The patient has had a poor night.

13. Destitute of saving grace. Revelation 3:17.

14. In general, wanting good qualities, or the qualities which render a thing valuable, excellent, proper, or sufficient for its purpose; as a poor pen; a poor ship; a poor carriage; poor fruit; poor bread; poor wine, etc.

15. A word of tenderness or pity; dear.

POOR, little, pretty, fluttering thing.

16. A word of slight contempt; wretched.

The poor monk never saw many of the decrees and councils he had occasion to use.

17. The poor collectively, used as a noun; those who are destitute of property; the indigent; the needy; in a legal sense, those who depend on charity or maintenance by the public.

I have observed the more public provisions are made for the poor the less they provide for themselves.

POOR in spirit, in a Scriptural sense, humble; contrite; abased in one's own sight by a sense of guilt. Matthew 5:3.