point toward

point toward (someone or something)

1. To indicate or signify the direction or location of someone or something. We've set up arrows pointing toward the house to help guests who are unfamiliar with the area. If you rest the needle on the surface of water, it will point toward magnetic north.
2. To make a physical signal, especially with one's index finger, to indicate the direction or location of someone or something. Tom pointed toward the trees behind the cabin when Peter asked where the bathroom was. Everyone pointed toward Sarah when the boss asked who had broken the printer.
3. To face the direction of someone or something. We want the back porch to be pointing toward the point on the horizon where the sun sets. You always want the front of your body pointing toward the audience, otherwise they will have trouble hearing you.
4. To move something so that it faces the direction of someone or something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "point" and "toward." He pointed his light toward the window so that she would see it from her bedroom. She pointed the stereo toward the meeting room so we could all hear the outcome of the game.
5. To draw someone's attention toward or inform someone about the direction of someone or something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "point" and "toward." Excuse me, could you please point me toward the train station? He pointed me toward the exit when I asked if they had any job openings.
See also: point, toward
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

point toward someone or something

to direct an extended finger toward someone or something. The teacher pointed toward Laura and asked her to come to the front of the room. Randy pointed toward the door and frowned at the dog.
See also: point, toward
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

point toward

v.
1. To indicate the direction in which something lies: The sign points toward the center of the city.
2. To make a gesture indicating the direction in which something lies: The farmer pointed toward the fields across the road.
3. To be suggestive of the idea that something is a possibility or correct conclusion: The fact that the door wasn't broken points toward the theory that the thief had a key.
4. To cause someone to consider something to be a possibility or correct conclusion: These facts point us toward a new explanation.
See also: point, toward
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • point toward (someone or something)
  • point to
  • point to (someone or something)
  • mark (someone or something) as (something)
  • mark as
  • be in bad with (someone)
  • in bad with, be
  • I've never heard it called that before
  • quite some (something)
  • shoot through (to somewhere)
References in classic literature
But in one hand he still clutched the knife he had found in the cabin of his father, and as the brute, striking and biting, closed upon him the boy accidentally turned the point toward the hairy breast.
Tarzan of the Apes
His feeling towards Dinah, the hope of passing his life with her, had been the distant unseen point towards which that hard journey from Snowfield eighteen months ago had been leading him.
Adam Bede
This object is said to be in the fringes of our own solar system, and all signs point toward it being a yet-undiscovered planet.
Scientists: Another Earth-Like Planet May Be Hiding in Our Solar System
However, the promo and sneak peeks point to something they point toward Daryl and Beth.
'The Walking Dead' Season 4, Episode 12 Spoilers: What's in Store in 'Still?' Daryl Dixon is Back! Yeah, Bi**h (Pinkman Style)
Altogether the index and the accompanying Oregon Measure of Economic Activity point toward continued growth in Oregon, Duy said.
Oregon economy continues to pick up
In a preliminary report on the country's key composite index for September, the Cabinet Office revised downward its basic assessment of the coincident index from "weakening" to "signaling a possible turning point." The change tentatively shows the economy is highly likely to have entered a turning point toward contraction, the office said.
UPDATE3: Japanese economy likely to have entered downturn: gov't report
"If the tails of the ribbon point toward your heart, you are a survivor.
Hermitage, Pa. Shop 'n Save Co-Owner Designs Breast Cancer Pinky Ring
A Promise of Eden also reveals how understanding life energy can reconcile seemingly irreparable differences between Darwin's theory of evolution and faith, explain the current divisive split in American society, and even point toward the resolution of the ancient disagreement between Judaism and Christianity concerning the identity of Jesus Christ.
A Promise of Eden
Here, although the IRS treated the remittance as a payment, the first two factors point toward designating it as a deposit.
Payment vs. deposit under refund SOL
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) News Release "Imaging Study May Help Point Toward More Effective Smoking Cessation Treatments", Monday, August 7, 2006
Imaging Study May Help Point Toward More Effective Smoking Cessation Treatments
Neumark continues, "the lions and the lambs are not too close yet either." I read the newspaper, and the letters to the editor point toward the distance, the anger, and the hurt between those that live in the United States.
Second Sunday in Advent: December 4, 2005
"July's HMI reading of 70 is right in line with the elevated index average for the year to date, and upbeat builder attitudes point toward continuation of strong sales and starts of single-family homes in the months ahead," said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders.
Builder confidence holds up
And the evidence is building to point toward other noise-related health effects.
Noise Pollution Clearinghouse
In this context, sin becomes something collective "without a clear concept or manageable moral definition." It is at this point toward the end of his book that Cote even calls for a return to the pagan, pre-Christian gods.
Lazarus! Come out! Why faith needs imagination