pool1
- a small body of standing water; pond.
- a still, deep place in a stream.
- any small collection of liquid on a surface: a pool of blood.
- a puddle.
- swimming pool.
- a subterranean accumulation of oil or gas held in porous and permeable sedimentary rock (reservoir).
- to form a pool.
- (of blood) to accumulate in a body part or organ.
- to cause pools to form in.
- to cause (blood) to form pools.
- of or for a pool: pool filters.
- taking place or occurring around or near a pool: a pool party.
Origin of pool1
pool2
- Also called pocket billiards. any of various games played on a pool table with a cue ball and 15 other balls that are usually numbered, in which the object is to drive all the balls into the pockets with the cue ball.
- the total amount staked by a combination of bettors, as on a race, to be awarded to the successful bettor or bettors.
- the combination of such bettors.
- an association of competitors who agree to control the production, market, and price of a commodity for mutual benefit, although they appear to be rivals.
- Finance. a combination of persons or organizations for the purpose of manipulating the prices of securities.
- a combination of resources, funds, etc., for common advantage.
- the combined interests or funds.
- a facility, resource, or service that is shared by a group of people: a car pool; a typing pool.
- the persons or parties involved.
- the stakes in certain games.
- British. a billiard game.
- Fencing. a match in which each teammate successively plays against each member of the opposing team.
- to put (resources, money, etc.) into a pool, or common stock or fund, as for a financial venture, according to agreement.
- to form a pool of.
- to make a common interest of.
- to enter into or form a pool.
- of or belonging to a pool: a pool typist; a pool reporter.
Origin of pool2
Synonyms
See more synonyms for pool on Thesaurus.comExamples from the Web for pool
Contemporary Examples
In the course of her remarkable travels Thecla baptizes herself by diving into a pool of “man-eating seals.”
Unlike the Campus Sexual Assault Study, the pool of respondents was national.
So this pool cleaner would always come around and talk to her, and I figured it would be a good idea for a movie.
The Renegade: Robert Downey Sr. on His Classic Films, Son’s Battle with Drugs, and Bill CosbyMarlow Stern
November 26, 2014
Another unknown is how many from that pool will eventually qualify.
Will 5 Million Undocumented Immigrants Take Obama's Tough Love Immigration Deal?Ruben Navarrette Jr.
November 21, 2014
The police found six eyewitnesses who reported seeing Anthony Porter at the pool that night and named him as the killer.
Historical Examples
And the wild ducklings are out on the pool, and the woods are full of song.
The Armourer's PrenticesCharlotte M. Yonge
Reached the pool found by me on the 24th; distance seventeen miles.
Explorations in AustraliaJohn Forrest
He sounded that pool with a long branch and found no bottom.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
Many forts are built at some distance from any pool or spring.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
The pool that we saw that night has swelled into a lake,—English blood and American,—no!
Old NewsNathaniel Hawthorne
pool1
- a small body of still water, usually fresh; small pond
- a small isolated collection of liquid spilt or poured on a surface; puddlea pool of blood
- a deep part of a stream or river where the water runs very slowly
- an underground accumulation of oil or gas, usually forming a reservoir in porous sedimentary rock
- See swimming pool
Word Origin
pool2
- any communal combination of resources, funds, etca typing pool
- the combined stakes of the betters in many gambling sports or games; kitty
- commerce a group of producers who conspire to establish and maintain output levels and high prices, each member of the group being allocated a maximum quota; price ring
- finance, mainly US
- a joint fund organized by security-holders for speculative or manipulative purposes on financial markets
- the persons or parties involved in such a combination
- any of various billiard games in which the object is to pot all the balls with the cue ball, esp that played with 15 coloured and numbered balls; pocket billiards
- to combine (investments, money, interests, etc) into a common fund, as for a joint enterprise
- commerce to organize a pool of (enterprises)
- Australian informal to inform on or incriminate (someone)
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for pool
n.1
"small body of water," Old English pol "small body of water; deep, still place in a river," from West Germanic *pol- (cf. Old Frisian and Middle Low German pol, Dutch poel, Old High German pfuol, German Pfuhl). As a short form of swimming pool it is recorded from 1901. Pool party is from 1965.
n.2
game similar to billiards, 1848, originally (1690s) a card game played for collective stakes (a "pool"), from French poule "stakes, booty, plunder," literally "hen," from Old French poille "hen, young fowl" (see foal (n.)).
Perhaps the original notion is from jeu de la poule, supposedly a game in which people threw things at a chicken and the player who hit it, won it, which speaks volumes about life in the Middle Ages. The notion behind the word, then, is "playing for money." The connection of "hen" and "stakes" is also present in Spanish polla and Walloon paie.
Meaning "collective stakes" in betting first recorded 1869; sense of "common reservoir of resources" is from 1917. Meaning "group of persons who share duties or skills" is from 1928. From 1933 as short for football pool in wagering. Pool shark is from 1898. The phrase dirty pool "underhanded or unsportsmanlike conduct," especially in politics (1951), seems to belong here now, but the phrase dirty pool of politics, with an image of pool (n.1) is recorded from 1871 and was in use early 20c.
v.1
"to make a common interest, put things into a pool," 1871, from pool (n.2). Related: Pooled; pooling.
v.2
of liquid, "to form a pool or pools," 1620s, from pool (n.1).
pool
(pōōl)- A collection of blood in any region of the body due to dilation and retardation of the circulation in capillaries and veins.