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.

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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

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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

The welcome screen at the ticket kiosks noted a “fare adjustment,” with no further information, and no signage appeared anywhere near the main entrance or inside the train depot.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

Teearu said the organisation is having to spend thousands to fuel its vans and depot and covering covering staff costs, with spending reaching nearly £500,000 every year.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

Along the way, the company joined Station F, the vast tech start-up incubator housed in the Halle Freyssinet, a renovated rail freight depot in Paris.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

After a single minimally invasive injection, the material changes from a liquid into a smooth, lubricating semisolid depot at body temperature.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026

But carriages met the train, and no one had to go inside the depot.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

Airports remain closed or severely disrupted across much of North America, while railways, freight depots and farms struggle to operate.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026

But while batteries can be bought quickly, the radars, data links, trained crews and repair depots that make a defense function cannot.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

But other businesses usually have the same idea, and the fuel depots often run out those days.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using civilian infrastructure to conceal weapons and fighters, and said it had destroyed arms depots across Gaza.

From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 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