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Pool
Definitions
- 1 A village in Carn Brea parish, Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SW6641).
- 2 Ellipsis of Pool-in-Wharfedale. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
- 3 A civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, also known as Pool in Wharfedale.
- 4 An unincorporated community in Nicholas County, West Virginia, United States.
- 5 A department of the Republic of the Congo.
- 1 A small and rather deep area of (usually) fresh water, as one supplied by a spring, or occurring in the course of a stream or river; a reservoir for water.
"the pools of Solomon"
- 2 A supply of resources.
"The 4-BEP and 4-CEP stock is maintained in a common pool for both Chatham and South Eastern fast main-line services."
- 3 any of various games played on a pool table having 6 pockets wordnet
- 4 Any small body of standing or stagnant water; a puddle.
- 5 A supply of resources.; A number of people when considered as a resource.
"dating pool"
Show 24 more definitions
- 6 an excavation that is (usually) filled with water wordnet
- 7 Ellipsis of swimming pool. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
- 8 A game at billiards, in which each of the players stakes a certain sum, the winner taking the whole; also, in public billiard rooms, a game in which the loser pays the entrance fee for all who engage in the game. uncountable
- 9 an association of companies for some definite purpose wordnet
- 10 A set of resources that are kept ready to use. broadly
- 11 A cue sport played on a pool table. There are 15 balls, 7 of one colour or solids, 7 of another color or stripes, and the black ball (also called the 8 ball). A player must pocket all their own colour balls and then the black ball in order to win.
"He plays pool at the billiard-houses, and may be seen engaged at cards and dominoes of forenoons."
- 12 an organization of people or resources that can be shared wordnet
- 13 Any group of like things. broadly
- 14 In rifle shooting, a contest in which each competitor pays a certain sum for every shot he makes, the net proceeds being divided among the winners.
- 15 something resembling a pool of liquid wordnet
- 16 A small amount of liquid on a surface.
"a pool of blood"
- 17 A group of fencers taking part in a competition.
- 18 a small lake wordnet
- 19 A localized glow of light.
"He walked slowly, passing through one pool of light after another, his shadow running tall across the fronts of the barber shop, the Western Auto, the video-rental shop."
- 20 A set of teams playing each other in the same division, while not during the same period playing any teams that belong to other sets in the division.
- 21 a small body of standing water (rainwater) or other liquid wordnet
- 22 Any gambling or commercial venture in which several persons join.
- 23 the combined stakes of the betters wordnet
- 24 The stake played for in certain games of cards, billiards, etc.; an aggregated stake to which each player has contributed a share; also, the receptacle for the stakes.
- 25 any communal combination of funds wordnet
- 26 A combination of persons contributing money to be used for the purpose of increasing or depressing the market price of stocks, grain, or other commodities; also, the aggregate of the sums so contributed.
"The pool took all the wheat offered below the limit."
- 27 A set of players in quadrille etc.
- 28 A mutual arrangement between competing lines, by which the receipts of all are aggregated, and then distributed pro rata according to agreement.
- 29 An aggregation of properties or rights, belonging to different people in a community, in a common fund, to be charged with common liabilities.
- 1 To form a pool. intransitive
- 2 To put together; contribute to a common fund, on the basis of a mutual division of profits or losses; to make a common interest of. transitive
"We must pool our resources."
- 3 join or form a pool of people wordnet
- 4 To combine or contribute with others, as for a commercial, speculative, or gambling transaction. intransitive
- 5 combine into a common fund wordnet
Etymology
From Middle English pool, pole, pol, from Old English pōl (“pool”), from Proto-West Germanic pōl, from Proto-Germanic *pōlaz (“pool, pond”), from Proto-Indo-European *bōlos (“bog, marsh”). Cognate with Scots puil (“pool”), Saterland Frisian Pol (“pool”), West Frisian poel (“pool”), Dutch poel (“pool”), German Low German Pohl, Pool, Pul (“pool”), German Pfuhl (“quagmire, mudhole”), Danish pøl (“puddle”), Swedish pöl (“puddle, pool”), Icelandic pollur (“puddle”), Lithuanian bala (“puddle”), Latvian bala (“a muddly, treeless depression”), Russian боло́то (bolóto, “swamp, bog, marsh”). For the meaning development to a supply of resources compare typologically Russian пруд пруди́ (prud prudí) (< пруд (prud)).
From Middle English pool, pole, pol, from Old English pōl (“pool”), from Proto-West Germanic pōl, from Proto-Germanic *pōlaz (“pool, pond”), from Proto-Indo-European *bōlos (“bog, marsh”). Cognate with Scots puil (“pool”), Saterland Frisian Pol (“pool”), West Frisian poel (“pool”), Dutch poel (“pool”), German Low German Pohl, Pool, Pul (“pool”), German Pfuhl (“quagmire, mudhole”), Danish pøl (“puddle”), Swedish pöl (“puddle, pool”), Icelandic pollur (“puddle”), Lithuanian bala (“puddle”), Latvian bala (“a muddly, treeless depression”), Russian боло́то (bolóto, “swamp, bog, marsh”). For the meaning development to a supply of resources compare typologically Russian пруд пруди́ (prud prudí) (< пруд (prud)).
1. From French poule (“collective stakes in a game”). The French word "poule" in this context is an abbreviation of "poulain, pouliche" (foal, filly), and referred to races with female horses under 3 years old. It then became used by punters to designate bets on that race, and started to be used from the racetrack to the stadiums. 2. The OED suggests that this may be a transferred use of poule (“hen”), which has been explained anecdotally as deriving from an old informal betting game in France - 'jeu de poule' - Game of Chicken (or Hen, literally) in which poule became synonymous with the combined money pot claimed by the winner.
1. From French poule (“collective stakes in a game”). The French word "poule" in this context is an abbreviation of "poulain, pouliche" (foal, filly), and referred to races with female horses under 3 years old. It then became used by punters to designate bets on that race, and started to be used from the racetrack to the stadiums. 2. The OED suggests that this may be a transferred use of poule (“hen”), which has been explained anecdotally as deriving from an old informal betting game in France - 'jeu de poule' - Game of Chicken (or Hen, literally) in which poule became synonymous with the combined money pot claimed by the winner.
In all likelihood from the noun pool.
See also for "pool"
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