station

American  

[stey-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.  Also called 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

“We were building what we thought was our forever house,” he told local news station KTBX.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026

"We're all on different shows, so we don't actually see each other that much, even with the station," Ali says.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

A new sewage pump station will be built and installed across from Kushner’s home, and the club will allow landscaping on the golf course.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Hundreds of people were also left stranded in Chiba station due to suspended train services, an AFP journalist saw.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

The coverage switches back to a news anchor sitting at a desk in front of the blue and red station logo.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

There are eight fewer hydrogen fueling stations now than in 2023 too — a total of 57, according to the California Energy Commission.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

Five bottled water stations are open until 22:00 BST at:

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Meanwhile, stations cost millions to build and owners have trouble getting reliable fuel deliveries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

Garrison called local TV stations and set up interviews with sick senior citizens who live in the park.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

It is a cheap brown plastic radio, with a simple dial and no shortwave so that it only receives German stations.

From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

On Monday, the brother shared videos with AFP showing settlers riding quad bikes past the house while Israeli forces were stationed outside.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

Across pre-season, Antoine Semenyo, stationed on the flank, was arguably City's standout player, receiving the ball with time and space to run at his full-back.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

At the border town of Fnideq, anti-riot vehicles were stationed along the beach where the migrants had swum to Ceuta.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

There were also reports of parents bringing their petitions to Union Army generals stationed in Maryland.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

Several women of the 125th Guards ended up married to men of the 124th Regiment stationed near them.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

By stationing players inside the six-yard box, the Meat Wall forces the defense to move its own players back, creating a swarm right on the goalkeeper’s toes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026

As part of the response, the US is stationing dogs capable of sniffing out screwworms at the borders.

From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026

Pratt wonders if there are creative solutions, such as bolstering the sheep population by bringing in animals raised elsewhere or stationing guard dogs around the herds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2025

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

It was George who had the idea of stationing Stuart inside the piano to push the key up the second it was played.

From "Stuart Little" by E.B. White

Related Words

• depot
• house
• location
• site
• terminal