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

Not even Dickensian “A Christmas Carol” visitations by the specters of his father and an Indonesian business partner negotiating a project involving a sandstone reservoir with “significant extraction costs” diminish his concomitant guilt and chagrin.

From Los Angeles Times

The state’s major reservoirs sit at 126% of their average levels.

From Los Angeles Times

But the number of reservoirs that can support traditional geothermal drilling is limited by geology—projects normally need a lot of hot rocks and water in the right configuration to make it work.

From Barron's

That means less water flowing into the river’s reservoirs.

From Los Angeles Times

Halliburton said decline rates on existing fields—the rate at which oil production falls—are steeper, reservoir quality is worsening and there hasn’t been much success in oil-and-gas exploration.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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