station

American  

[stay-shuhn] / ˈsteɪ ʃən /

noun

• stations
  plural

1. a place or position in which a person or thing is normally located.

   Synonyms:

   location, situation

2. a stopping place for trains or other land conveyances, for the transfer of freight or passengers.

3. the building or buildings at such a stopping place.

   Synonyms:

   terminal, depot

4. the district or municipal headquarters of certain public services.

   police station; fire station; postal station.

5. a place equipped for some particular kind of work, service, research, or the like.

   gasoline station; geophysical station.

6. the position, as of persons or things, in a scale of estimation, rank, or dignity; standing.

   the responsibility of persons of high station.

7. a position, office, rank, calling, or the like.

   Synonyms:

   employment, business, trade, occupation

8. Radio and Television.

   1. a studio or building from which broadcasts originate.

   2. a person or organization originating and broadcasting messages or programs.

   3. a specific frequency or band of frequencies assigned to a regular or special broadcaster.

      Tune to the Civil Defense station.

   4. the complete equipment used in transmitting and receiving broadcasts.

9. Military.

   1. a military place of duty.

   2. a semipermanent army post.

10. Navy. a place or region to which a ship or fleet is assigned for duty.

11. (formerly in India) the area in which the British officials of a district or the officers of a garrison resided.

12. Biology. a particular area or type of region where a given animal or plant is found.

13. Australian. a ranch with its buildings, land, etc., especially for raising sheep.

14. Surveying.

    1. Also called set-up, instrument station. a point where an observation is taken.

    2. a precisely located reference point.

    3. a length of 100 feet (30 meters) along a survey line.

15. a section or area assigned to a waiter, soldier, etc.; post.

    The waiter says this isn't his station.

16. stations of the cross.

17. Archaic. the fact or condition of standing still.

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verb (used with object)

• stations,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stationed,
  past participle,  past
• stationing
  present participle

1. to assign a station to; place or post in a station or position.

   Synonyms:

   fix, set, establish, locate, position

station British  

/ ˈsteɪʃən /

noun

1. the place or position at which a thing or person stands or is supposed to stand

2. 1. a place along a route or line at which a bus, train, etc, stops for fuel or to pick up or let off passengers or goods, esp one with ancillary buildings and services

      railway station

   2. ( as modifier )

      a station buffet

3. 1. the headquarters or local offices of an official organization such as the police or fire services

   2. ( as modifier ) See police station fire station

      a station sergeant

4. a building, depot, etc, with special equipment for some particular purpose

   power station

   petrol station

   television station

5. military a place of duty

   an action station

6. navy

   1. a location to which a ship or fleet is assigned for duty

   2. an assigned location for a member of a ship's crew

7. a radio or television channel

8. a position or standing, as in a particular society or organization

9. the type of one's occupation; calling

10. (in British India) a place where the British district officials or garrison officers resided

11. biology the type of habitat occupied by a particular animal or plant

12. a large sheep or cattle farm

13. surveying a point at which a reading is made or which is used as a point of reference

14. (often capital) RC Church

    1. one of the Stations of the Cross

    2. any of the churches ( station churches ) in Rome that have been used from ancient times as points of assembly for religious processions and ceremonies on particular days ( station days )

15. (plural) (in rural Ireland) mass, preceded by confessions, held annually in a parishioner's dwelling and attended by other parishioners

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verb

1. (tr) to place in or assign to a station

Synonym Usage

See appointment.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• restation
  verb (used with object)
• unstation
  verb (used with object)
• interstation
  adjective
• stational
  adjective
• unstationed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stations
  plural

Participles

• stationing
  present
• stationed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• station
  simple
• stations
  simple
• have stationed
  perfect
• has stationed
  perfect
• am stationing
  progressive
• are stationing
  progressive
• is stationing
  progressive
• have been stationing
  perfect progressive
• has been stationing
  perfect progressive

Past

• stationed
  simple
• had stationed
  perfect
• was stationing
  progressive
• were stationing
  progressive
• had been stationing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will station
  simple
• will have stationed
  perfect
• will be stationing
  progressive
• will have been stationing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of station

1350–1400; < Latin statiōn- (stem of statiō ) a standing still, standing-place, equivalent to stat ( us ) (past participle of stāre to stand ) + -iōn- -ion; replacing Middle English stacioun < Anglo-French < Latin, as above

Explanation

A station is a regular stopping place, like a bus station, a train station, or even a radio station. To understand all the jobs the word station has, check out its past — station comes from the Latin stationem for "a job or position," via the word stare which means "to stand.” A station can be where trains “stand,” or a police station where police do their job. Your station in life is your social place. It’s also a verb — like when the military stations troops to protect a border.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

station stations stationed stationing

Way back in the Bush II and Obama years, I volunteered at my college radio station in the Music Procurement Department or whatever it was called.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

The water level monitoring station for the lake is now so far out of the remaining basin that Durig does the measurements manually.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

In Zvirynets—once the hunting grounds of medieval princes, now a leafy upscale neighborhood—residents hurry to the subway station.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

Even just a five-minute lift from a colleague to a Tube station recently was enough to make her feel "horrific".

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

So he’d taken the bus to the station and sat in a hard plastic chair for five long hours until it was the time he was meant to get back to his aunt’s.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

They press vinyl to sell at shows, and it gets into the hands of disc jockeys at ever-larger radio stations with an increasing number of watts behind their broadcasts.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

Government offices and police stations had been left without security personnel.

From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026

Concierge service is available 24 hours a day, and common areas include a fitness center, an entertainment lounge, children’s playroom, dog spa, and a rooftop terrace outfitted with grilling stations.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

He said he was "glad" to have frozen fuel duty until the end of the year and brought 'fuel finder' apps to help people find the cheapest petrol stations.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

There were twenty cook stations, each as big as his entire kitchen.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Japan's public broadcaster NHK identified the victim as Yagi Anna, 39, and the suspect as Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, who is stationed at US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Ban Keun could be used as a "convenient stopover" for China's air force, and Chinese personnel may be stationed there, he added.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

He now is stationed in the Torrance branch, where he handles serious felonies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Astronauts on those journeys may spend far more time away from Earth's gravity than crews currently stationed aboard the International Space Station.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026

An electronic sign at the center of the room flashes Now Serving C26, and behind it is a long counter with people stationed at little windows.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

During the Cold War, the U.S. considered stationing nuclear missiles under the ice sheet in Greenland — and never told Greenlanders or Denmark about the secret project.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026

After the shooting death on Jan. 7 of Renee Good, Turtle Bread locked its front door during business hours, stationing a staffer there at all times to guard against ICE officers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026

Parents started to set up school patrols, stationing volunteers in the parking lot and in their neighborhoods to make sure kids, families and staff could come and go to school safely.

From Salon ● Jan. 29, 2026

In recent weeks, masked federal agents have raided car washes and other businesses in Southern California, even stationing themselves outside Dodger Stadium.

From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2025

We ended up stationing Styx in the flowerbed outside our bedroom.

From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon

Related Words

• depot
• house
• location
• site
• terminal