pool

¹pool

noun \ˈpül\

Definition of POOL

1

a (1) : a small and rather deep body of usually fresh water (2) : a quiet place in a stream (3) : a body of water forming above a dam

b : something resembling a pool <a pool of light>

2

: a small body of standing liquid

3

: a continuous area of porous sedimentary rock that yields petroleum or gas

4

: swimming pool

Origin of POOL

Middle English, from Old English pōl; akin to Old High German pfuol pool

First Known Use: before 12th century

Other Civil Engineering Terms

asphalt, ballast, barrage, cantilever, infrastructure, sluice

Rhymes with POOL

boule, boulle, cool, drool, fool, fuel, ghoul, gul, mewl, mule, Poole, pul, pule, rule, school, spool, stool, tool, tulle, yule

²pool

intransitive verb

Definition of POOL

1

: to form a pool

2

of blood : to accumulate or become static (as in the veins of a bodily part)

First Known Use of POOL

1626

³pool

noun

Definition of POOL

1

a : an aggregate stake to which each player of a game has contributed

b : all the money bet by a number of persons on a particular event

2

a : a game played on an English billiard table in which each of the players stakes a sum and the winner takes all

b : any of various games of billiards played on an oblong table having 6 pockets with usually 15 object balls

3

: an aggregation of the interests or property of different persons made to further a joint undertaking by subjecting them to the same control and a common liability

4

: a readily available supply: as

a : the whole quantity of a particular material present in the body and available for function or the satisfying of metabolic demands

b : a body product (as blood) collected from many donors and stored for later use

c : a group of people available for some purpose <a shrinking pool of applicants> <typing pool>

5

: gene pool

6

: a group of journalists from usually several news organizations using pooled resources (as television equipment) to produce shared coverage especially of events to which access is restricted

Origin of POOL

French poule, literally, hen, from Old French, feminine of poul cock — more at pullet

First Known Use: 1708

Other Game Terms

bezique, carom, convention, crap, euchre, gambit, monte, parlay, tierce

⁴pool

transitive verb

Definition of POOL

: to combine (as resources) in a common pool or effort

First Known Use of POOL

1879

pool

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Billiards game played on an oblong table having six pockets with 15 object balls and a white cue ball. At the beginning of play, the balls are arranged (racked) in a pyramid formation with its apex on a spot near the foot of the table. The first player breaks the formation by driving the cue ball into it; to continue play, he or she must hit a ball into a pocket. In the popular “8-ball” game, the first player (or team) to sink either the seven solid-coloured balls (numbered 1–7) or the seven banded (striped) balls (9–15), finishing with the black 8-ball, wins. In “9-ball,” only the balls numbered 1–9 are used, and they must be sunk sequentially; the player who sinks the 9-ball wins. Pool probably reached its present form in England and France by c. 1800; today it is most popular in North America.

Variants of POOL

pool or pocket billiards