resource
Americannoun
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a source of supply, support, or aid, especially one that can be readily drawn upon when needed.
- Synonyms:
- service, help, assistance, support, aid
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resources, the collective wealth of a country or its means of producing wealth.
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Usually resources money, or any property that can be converted into money; assets.
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Often resources an available means afforded by the mind or one's personal capabilities.
to have resource against loneliness.
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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
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capability, ingenuity, and initiative; quick-wittedness
a man of resource
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(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
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a means of doing something; expedient
Other Word Forms
- resourceless adjective
- resourcelessness noun
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”; resurge, source
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.
The Chinese aluminum producer’s acquisition of a Brazilian aluminum company with Rio Tinto is likely to enhance the former’s resource footprint and expand its upstream aluminum portfolio, she says.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
Wireless spectrum—the frequencies that wireless calls and data travel over—is a finite resource that every mobile company needs.
From Barron's • Mar. 29, 2026
"They want to see an inclusive school system. The problem is they are just so overstretched, they are being asked to do much more with less resource - it becomes an impossibility."
From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026
He assumed there was some online resource that offered predictions or leveraged satellite images.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
My classmates and I had been placed in the resource pool and worked all over the prison.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
