pod
pod [pod pods podded podding] BrE [pɒd] NAmE [pɑːd] noun 
1. a long thin case filled with seeds that develops from the flowers of some plants, especially ↑peas and ↑beans
•a pea pod
•a vanilla pod
2. a long narrow container that is hung under an aircraft and used to carry fuel, equipment, weapons, etc.
3. part of a ↑spacecraft or a boat that can be separated from the main part
4. countable a small group of sea animals, such as ↑dolphins or ↑whales, swimming together
•a pod of adult dolphins
•a pod of pilot whales
Word Origin:
late 17th cent.: back-formation from dialect podware, podder ‘field crops’, of unknown origin.
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