reservoir

American  

[rez-er-vwahr, -vwawr, -vawr, rez-uh-] / ˈrɛz ərˌvwɑr, -ˌvwɔr, -ˌvɔr, ˈrɛz ə- /

noun

1. a natural or artificial place where water is collected and stored for use, especially water for supplying a community, irrigating land, furnishing power, etc.

2. a receptacle or chamber for holding a liquid or fluid.

3. Geology. pool16

4. Biology. a cavity or part that holds some fluid or secretion.

5. a place where anything is collected or accumulated in great amount.

   Synonyms:

   stockpile, fund, pool, store, hoard

6. a large or extra supply or stock; reserve.

   a reservoir of knowledge.

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reservoir British  

/ ˈrɛzəˌvwɑː /

noun

1. a natural or artificial lake or large tank used for collecting and storing water, esp for community water supplies or irrigation

2. a receptacle for storing gas, esp one attached to a stove

3. biology a vacuole or cavity in an organism, containing a secretion or some other fluid

4. anatomy another name for cisterna

5. a place where a great stock of anything is accumulated

6. a large supply of something; reserve

   a reservoir of talent

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reservoir Scientific  

/ rĕz′ər-vwär′ /

1. A natural or artificial pond or lake used for the storage of water.

2. An underground mass of rock or sediment that is porous and permeable enough to allow oil or natural gas to accumulate in it.

3. An organism that is the host for a parasitic pathogen or that directly or indirectly transmits a pathogen to which it is immune.

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Etymology

Origin of reservoir

1680–90; < French réservoir, equivalent to réserv ( er ) to reserve + -oir -ory ²

Example Sentences

But the painful details of the fire — the missteps of the fire department, the empty reservoir — didn’t matter when it came to deciding how to rebuild, he said.

From Los Angeles Times

That will mean less snowmelt feeding the river’s reservoirs, which are declining to critically low levels.

From Los Angeles Times

In the nearby Lallays reservoir, dozens of camels graze on wild plants, but not a single puddle remains.

From Barron's

Although these lava deposits look different today, they were all fed by the same underlying magma reservoir.

From Science Daily

The strain's resistance profile suggests that bacteria adapted to cold environments could serve as reservoirs of resistance genes, which are segments of DNA that enable survival when exposed to antibiotics.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• basin
• cistern
• container
• lake
• pond
• pool
• reserve
• source
• stockpile
• storage
• supply
• tank