resource

[ree-sawrs, -sohrs, -zawrs, -zohrs, ri-sawrs, -sohrs, -zawrs, -zohrs]

noun

1. a source of supply, support, or aid, especially one that can be readily drawn upon when needed.

   Synonyms: service, help, assistance, support, aid

2. resources, the collective wealth of a country or its means of producing wealth.

3. Usually resources money, or any property that can be converted into money; assets.

   Synonyms: wealth, riches, deep pockets, property, money, funds, cash, capital

4. Often resources an available means afforded by the mind or one's personal capabilities.

   to have resource against loneliness.

5. an action or measure to which one may have recourse in an emergency; expedient.

   Synonyms: device, shift, resort, recourse, means, contrivance

6. capability in dealing with a situation or in meeting difficulties.

   a woman of resource.

   Synonyms: ingenuity, adaptability

resource

/ -ˈsɔːs, rɪˈzɔːs /

noun

1. capability, ingenuity, and initiative; quick-wittedness

   a man of resource

2. (often plural) a source of economic wealth, esp of a country (mineral, land, labour, etc) or business enterprise (capital, equipment, personnel, etc)

3. a supply or source of aid or support; something resorted to in time of need

4. a means of doing something; expedient

Other Word Forms

• resourceless adjective
• resourcelessness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of resource¹

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”; resurge, source

Word History and Origins

Origin of resource¹

C17: from Old French ressourse relief, from resourdre to rise again, from Latin resurgere , from _re- + surgere to rise

Example Sentences

Roughly 20,000 people in the area use Snap benefits, she says - and of those people, roughly 6,000 also use the food bank’s resources.

Read more on BBC

Analysts caution Comstock’s exploration campaign is still in its early days, and it remains to be seen whether the company can pump resources across its vast new domain without hiccups.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Solutions must involve not only phasing out fossil fuels, the scientists said, but also addressing the fact that people are using up resources faster than nature can replenish them.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"Especially concerning is the use of civil service resources to publicise it," O'Toole added on X, formerly Twitter.

Read more on BBC

Beyond that, Mather said, the sanitation bureau lacks the resources to gain control over the volume of refuse that’s discarded on a daily basis.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• ability 
• capability 
• capital 
• means 
• property 
• reserve 
• source 
• support 
• system 
• talent 
• wealth