resource
Americannoun
-
resources
plural
-
a source of supply, support, or aid, especially one that can be readily drawn upon when needed.
- Synonyms:
- service, help, assistance, support, aid
-
resources, the collective wealth of a country or its means of producing wealth.
-
Usually resources money, or any property that can be converted into money; assets.
-
Often resources an available means afforded by the mind or one's personal capabilities.
to have resource against loneliness.
-
an action or measure to which one may have recourse in an emergency; expedient.
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capability in dealing with a situation or in meeting difficulties.
a woman of resource.
- Synonyms:
- ingenuity, adaptability
noun
-
capability, ingenuity, and initiative; quick-wittedness
a man of resource
-
(often plural) a source of economic wealth, esp of a country (mineral, land, labour, etc) or business enterprise (capital, equipment, personnel, etc)
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a supply or source of aid or support; something resorted to in time of need
-
a means of doing something; expedient
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of resource
First recorded in 1640–50; from French ressource, Old French ressourse, noun derivative of resourdre “to rise up,” from Latin resurgere, equivalent to re- re- + surgere “to rise up, lift”; see resurge, source
Explanation
A resource is any personal talent or outside supply that can be tapped for help or support. Resource comes from an old French word meaning "relief" or "recovery," which certainly ties in with the idea of a resource being something that offers necessary aid. However, the word resource also refers to the natural resources available in and on our Earth — things that we are constantly drawing on and depleting, such as our trees, ores, and atmosphere. Once such a natural resource is used up, it’s usually gone forever, and is no longer a resource.
Vocabulary lists containing resource
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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List 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The U.S. held a near-monopoly on the gas, designating it a strategic resource and prohibiting its exportation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The California attorney general in February opened a civil rights investigation into potential disparities in the fire response, looking particularly at delays in evacuation alerts and resource allocation between west and east Altadena.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
Together, the studies create a major new resource for researchers and provide fresh opportunities to investigate how changes in genome organization contribute to development, aging, and disease, including neurodegenerative disorders.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
"The energy he's brought to the group already has been immense and you know I feel very privileged for us to be able to have him as a resource within our dressing room," said McCullum.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Ere many minutes had elapsed, I was again on my feet, however, and again searching something—a resource, or at least an informant.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
That could reduce dependence on newly mined resources, lower the environmental footprint of materials production, and strengthen domestic supplies of critical minerals and rare earth elements.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
More resources must be dedicated to model alignment, or ensuring that an AI model’s behaviors match human values and intentions, he argued.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
“It’s a complete waste of resources and it’s amoral.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Researchers needed freedom and resources to pursue the next breakthrough, while sales and marketing teams had to generate the revenue that investors demanded and future research required.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
“Yep. It’s like you said. No great thing is ever done solo. Sometimes we have to bump these things up to the next level. The feds have more resources than I do.”
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
