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

He was arrested and held in a police station for five hours, but no further action was taken because of a lack of evidence.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

The property in Bleasby dates back to the 1840s, when the railway station opened, and would have been home to the station masters who were responsible for opening and closing the station barriers.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

For the next two hours, anchors and reporters covered the story while informing viewers of a grim fact: The station had lost contact with its Chopper 4 crew.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

The helicopter was operated by Angel City Air and was providing coverage for NBC Los Angeles and its Spanish-language sister station, Telemundo 52.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

The station is swarming with German soldiers, the hated swastikas on their arms and rifles over their shoulders.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

CBS owns more than two dozen TV stations with FCC licenses, including KCBS-TV Channel 2 and KCAL-TV Channel 9 in Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

The new findings suggest the brain not only communicates with immune cells, but may also have specialized immune "security stations" positioned unusually close by.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

The FF3C group of independent petrol stations lodged a complaint in mid-July with France's competition regulator for unfair competition.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

LA local news stations regularly break into live programming to broadcast high-speed police pursuits from the air, fly over wildfires and show accidents, protests, and holiday traffic jams in often unscripted, real-time aerials.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

At 4:55 they’ll line up single file and enter the control room, church-mouse quiet, and stand behind each of us at their assigned stations.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

When the United States declared war in June 1812, Byfield was stationed at Fort George on the Niagara River.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026

I would not necessarily improve an afternoon at the Montrose Bird Sanctuary by having someone stationed at the exit to hand me a receipt: You saw $46 worth of warblers today.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

The U.S., which had more than 40,000 troops stationed in Iceland during World War II, was the first to recognize the Republic of Iceland after it declared full independence from Denmark in 1944.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

The company is second only to Wildberries in terms of scale and presence, with its pick-up posts and delivery boxes stationed across the country.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

An agent is stationed here, and I show him the pass too.

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

Game of Thrones' US creator was heavily involved in the play, stationing a representative in rehearsals at all times, and he attended the opening night in Stratford on Saturday.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

Now when he does his homework like he did this spring, stationing himself in front of a pitching machine, calling out balls and strikes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2026

The agreement that allowed the U.S. to build the base at the time is still in effect, but stationing soldiers in the most isolated part of Greenland would be a huge logistical challenge.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 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

“Of course he knows. We had to ask him if he minds the Azkaban guards stationing themselves around the entrances to the school grounds. He wasn’t happy about it, but he agreed.”

From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling

Related Words

• depot
• house
• location
• site
• terminal