pore2

Origin:

Middle English: perhaps related to peer¹

People frequently confuse the verbs pore and pour. Pore is used with over or through and means ‘be absorbed in reading something’ (I spent hours poring over cookery books), while pour means ‘flow or cause to flow in a steady stream’ (water poured off the stones pour the marinade over the pork pour the tea). As pore is a much less common word, people often choose the more familiar pour, producing sentences such as she was pouring over books and studying till midnight. Although increasingly common, this use is incorrect in standard English.