depot

American  

[dee-poh, dep-oh] / ˈdi poʊ, ˈdɛp oʊ /

noun

• depots
  plural

1. a railroad station.

   Synonyms:

   terminal

2. a bus station.

   Synonyms:

   terminal

3. Military.

   1. a place in which supplies and materials are stored for distribution.

   2. (formerly) a place where recruits are assembled for classification, initial training, and assignment to active units.

4. a storehouse or warehouse, as a building where freight is deposited.

5. Physiology. a place where body products not actively involved in metabolic processes are accumulated, deposited, or stored.

---

depot British  

/ ˈdiːpəʊ, ˈdɛpəʊ /

noun

1. a storehouse or warehouse

2. military

   1. a store for supplies

   2. a training and holding centre for recruits and replacements

3. a building used for the storage and servicing of buses or railway engines

4. 1. a bus or railway station

   2. ( as modifier )

      a depot manager

---

adjective

1. (of a drug or drug dose) designed for gradual release from the site of an injection so as to act over a long period

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subdepot
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• depots
  plural

Etymology

Origin of depot

1785–95; < French dépot < Latin dēpositum, noun use of neuter of dēpositus; see deposit

Explanation

A depot is a place where things are stored in large quantities for future use. Your office might have a depot in the back where supplies are stored. Depot came into English from the French word dépôt, meaning "a deposit, place of deposit." A depot can be a place like a warehouse where items are temporarily deposited, but we also use it for a train or bus station. In this case, think of it as a place where a many passengers are being temporarily housed. Your bus trip might require you to get off one bus at a big depot, and transfer to another.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

depot depots

Last year, Virgin's plans to launch international services received a boost after the ORR approved its application to share a key rail depot with Eurostar.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Further west, a German military operational command spokesman told AFP on Saturday that drones were detected this week above an army installation in western Germany known to house a large underground depot.

From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 2026

Alternatively, a Waymo can return to an Austin operations depot managed by Uber to park, charge up, and get cleaned.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

The city administration reported that an oil depot was struck by unmaned aerial vehicles, causing a fire.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

Townshend hurried to the railroad depot, arriving within five minutes of the shooting.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

"There were ammunition depots buried in land within our municipality, but we didn't know it, and they exploded", Zaninetti told France Info.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

The roadmap, which has not yet been implemented, states: "A process shall begin to inventory and store heavy weapons, military production sites, weapons depots, and tunnels".

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

It will also administer and implement a process to decommission and store heavy weapons, military production sites, depots of weapons, and tunnels.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

Now, long-range strike systems can hit targets hundreds of kilometers away, such as logistics hubs, aircraft on the ground, ammunition depots and defense-industrial facilities.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Here, along with a men’s night bomber regiment, Marina’s recruits would fly low over the German troops in the dark, bombing their headquarters and ammunition and supply depots on the southern end of the front.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

Related Words

• armory
• garage
• store
• storehouse
• terminal
• yard