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

Some trains running to and from London Liverpool Street station have been stopped following multiple trackside fires.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

The notes were addressed to Savannah Guthrie and the Guthrie family, and sent to a local TV station in Tucson, Arizona, in the days after Nancy Guthrie disappeared, according to the sheriff.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Gerry Sass was the owner of an Iowa radio station but also maintained a less savory second identity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

A column of black smoke rose over the Miramar air station early Friday, according to images captured on Alert California cameras, but the fire appeared to dissipate quickly.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

As we pulled into the lorry station, vying vendors clamored at our windows.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

People have already started returning postal votes to town hall and most registered voters will go to polling stations on 13 August.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

And on Wednesday, Havana said it would open up major sectors such as gas stations, electricity generation, trash collection and pharmacies to private firms.

From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026

Then, it’s time to talk about the “crack spread”—aka the reason we aren’t seeing relief at the gas stations despite steadying oil prices.

From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2026

Meanwhile, stations near wealthier neighborhoods, downtown areas, highway on-ramps and airports are sometimes more expensive.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

Max Myer, the meteorologist at one of the local TV stations, was checking himself in a hand mirror, prepping and primping to be the celebrity quizmaster.

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

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

After completing medical evaluations at the landing site, the crew members will travel by helicopter to Karaganda, Kazakhstan, where recovery teams are stationed.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026

Despite the withdrawal, US military personnel stationed in Nigeria before the Lake Chad Basin operation have remained in the country, military spokesperson Major General Samaila Uba told the BBC.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

Madame Babushkinov was off attending to her toilette, with a guard stationed outside the bath to ensure her complete privacy.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Imagine the hospital responded by stationing security guards outside the sliding doors to prevent patients from entering.

From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2026

Huckaby then began stationing Liberty staff in front of every bathroom, letting in only as many people as there were stalls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026

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

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

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