reservoir
Americannoun
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reservoirs
plural
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a natural or artificial place where water is collected and stored for use, especially water for supplying a community, irrigating land, furnishing power, etc.
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a receptacle or chamber for holding a liquid or fluid.
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Geology. pool16
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Biology. a cavity or part that holds some fluid or secretion.
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a place where anything is collected or accumulated in great amount.
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a large or extra supply or stock; reserve.
a reservoir of knowledge.
noun
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a natural or artificial lake or large tank used for collecting and storing water, esp for community water supplies or irrigation
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a receptacle for storing gas, esp one attached to a stove
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biology a vacuole or cavity in an organism, containing a secretion or some other fluid
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anatomy another name for cisterna
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a place where a great stock of anything is accumulated
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a large supply of something; reserve
a reservoir of talent
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A natural or artificial pond or lake used for the storage of water.
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An underground mass of rock or sediment that is porous and permeable enough to allow oil or natural gas to accumulate in it.
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An organism that is the host for a parasitic pathogen or that directly or indirectly transmits a pathogen to which it is immune.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of reservoir
1680–90; < French réservoir, equivalent to réserv ( er ) to reserve + -oir -ory 2
Explanation
The word reservoir refers to a place where large amounts of water get stored. It can also be used to describe great amounts of other things, such as when you refer to a trivia expert as a reservoir of useless knowledge. The word reservoir comes from the French réservoir, which further derives from the Old French reserver, meaning "to reserve." Knowing this, it makes sense that the meaning evolved into a place, either man-made or natural, where water is stored or "reserved," usually for distribution for drinking, irrigating, and generating power. Remembering the related word reserve might also help in both the spelling and pronunciation of the word, as reserve is spelled (and pronounced) with "er," the same as "reservoir."
Vocabulary lists containing reservoir
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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:
This year, the Rocky Mountains had the least snow on record, and the lack of snowmelt is sinking reservoir levels lower.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, has plummeted to its lowest water level since it was filled some 90 years ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
And reservoir levels in Northern Ireland and Scotland are close to average, according to the latest available data.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
A key reason why parts of southern England have entered "severe drought" is low reservoir levels.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
Buddied up to the other side of the reservoir was a small hill, where children went sledding in the winter.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
The largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are at their lowest combined levels since Lake Powell began filling in 1963.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
But while AI could boost the efficiency and use of renewables, the technology has long been used by oil and gas companies to sift through geological data, identify underground reservoirs and streamline fossil fuel production.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
According to Mr. Kean, the Indus Valley people specialized in big infrastructure projects, such as dams, reservoirs and early sewers that carried waste safely out of their settlements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Drought status would in theory allow Yorkshire Water to reduce the flow out of some reservoirs which would normally replenish water courses, in order to slow their decline, and even apply for a hosepipe ban.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Scattered through the neighborhoods was a network of reservoirs, many apparently stocked with fish.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
