What are the definitions of the poor and poverty? Many people hear the words poverty and have different meanings, so how do you know which definition and “I am poor” is the right one? According to many people, poverty can mean a person who does not have money to do the things they want to do, but most people can only afford to live on what they actually need. This is just an example; there are many other definitions of the word poverty. So what do people think the word poor means? Some may say that the poor person does not have enough money to buy something extra at the supermarket or mall. What exactly are the true definitions of each word, how to distinguish words, and how to know what to believe. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the word poor means; to want means to produce the comforts or necessities of life; needy, destitute, destitute, so destitute that they depend on gifts or allowances for their livelihood. These are the dictionary definitions (OED), very learned, how do we know this is the correct definition of the word poor? Just because it's the book definition that everyone seems to trust or because a lot of research has gone into that definition, it only gives you an idea of ​​what "poor" actually means. . So how can we tell the difference between the correct definition and the wrong definition, or a less correct definition? Is there really a true definition of the word poor but we don't know what the true meaning is and if we know the true meaning we may not even understand it. As for the word poverty, what does it mean? Also using the (OED), I found this definition, the condition or quality of being poor middle of paper......with clothes, and who eventually loses his life by losing his farm. Using parts of the definitions, I felt they fit the story of the Joad family and the book The Grapes of Wrath, because so far everyone in the story has been affected by this was going on and everyone's characters fit the definitions of poor well. and poverty. In conclusion to my definitions of the poor and poverty, to get the true definition of poverty you need to think about the many other definitions and include them all together, then decide when and how you can say that you or someone other are actually considered poor or in a situation of poverty. It takes a lot of thought to think about the meaning of each of these words and there are many things to consider before applying them. Work citedOED: Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition Oxford University Press 2002