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
pooled; pooling; pools
1
: to form a pool
2
of blood
: to accumulate or become static (as in the veins of a bodily part)
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: such 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 (such 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
6
: a group of journalists from usually several news organizations using pooled resources (such as television equipment) to produce shared coverage especially of events to which access is restricted
pooled; pooling; pools
: to combine (things, such as resources) in a common pool or effort
Synonyms
Examples of pool in a Sentence
Noun (1)
a secluded pool that has long been a locally favored spot for skinny-dipping
Noun (2)
a large pool of applicants for the summer internship
a pool of ideas ready to use whenever the cartoonist needs to meet a deadline
office workers setting up a pool for the collective purchase of lottery tickets
two coworkers split last week's football pool
Recent Examples on the Web
Toni Sutton, Peoplemag, 22 May 2024
Hotels within the resort host events like pool parties, outdoor movies, and campfires (check with guest services for an up-to-date activities calendar).
—Tarah Chieffi, Travel + Leisure, 21 May 2024
Summer is coming: Get your shades, grab a drink and head to the pool this Memorial Day.
—Ana Rocío Álvarez Bríñez, The Courier-Journal, 21 May 2024
The fountain on Broadway and Colfax and the reflection pools at the civic center were an asset to our once beautiful downtown.
—Dp Opinion, The Denver Post, 21 May 2024
There were no pills, drugs or medications found near the pool, according to his autopsy.
—Jay Stahl, USA TODAY, 21 May 2024
With no winner, the prize money pool is set to grow for the May 22 drawing.
—Raphael Romero Ruiz, The Arizona Republic, 21 May 2024
Near the pool, researchers also uncovered two shallow bathtubs covered in waterproofing mortar.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 May 2024
Outside, the villa offers a bocce court and a pool and spa.
—David Caraccio, Sacramento Bee, 21 May 2024
Stella Shon, Travel + Leisure, 21 May 2024
From this past research, the authors pooled the disparate data, and created a simple mathematical model for understanding both the direct and indirect costs of reproduction.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 16 May 2024
Creating data partnerships and collaboration agreements to pool data in place is still a manual process.
—William Mullane, USA TODAY, 12 May 2024
But Trump’s tax advisers took the position that pooling the Chicago tower’s finances with other businesses entitled him to declare even more tax-reducing losses from his Chicago investment.
—Paul Kiel, Fortune, 11 May 2024
The Grand Final Last year, for the first time, viewers in the U.S. were able to vote for their favorite Eurovision performances – though those votes got pooled with other non-participating countries around the world.
—Glen Weldon, NPR, 9 May 2024
For example, parents could pool donations to replace classroom items like a printer or old textbooks.
—Marina Johnson, The Indianapolis Star, 7 May 2024
There is no central repository of vaccine recipients, nor of medical records, and no easy to way to pool these data.
—Apoorva Mandavilli, New York Times, 3 May 2024
Dedicated butlers are efficient and wildly hospitable, doing everything from procuring dinner reservations to pool toys.
—Hannah Seligson, Travel + Leisure, 2 May 2024
Noun
With summer months ahead comes tons of outdoor activities like backyard barbeques and pool parties.
—Toni Sutton, Peoplemag, 22 May 2024
Hotels within the resort host events like pool parties, outdoor movies, and campfires (check with guest services for an up-to-date activities calendar).
—Tarah Chieffi, Travel + Leisure, 21 May 2024
Summer is coming: Get your shades, grab a drink and head to the pool this Memorial Day.
—Ana Rocío Álvarez Bríñez, The Courier-Journal, 21 May 2024
The fountain on Broadway and Colfax and the reflection pools at the civic center were an asset to our once beautiful downtown.
—Dp Opinion, The Denver Post, 21 May 2024
There were no pills, drugs or medications found near the pool, according to his autopsy.
—Jay Stahl, USA TODAY, 21 May 2024
With no winner, the prize money pool is set to grow for the May 22 drawing.
—Raphael Romero Ruiz, The Arizona Republic, 21 May 2024
Near the pool, researchers also uncovered two shallow bathtubs covered in waterproofing mortar.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 May 2024
Outside, the villa offers a bocce court and a pool and spa.
—David Caraccio, Sacramento Bee, 21 May 2024
Verb
These deals come as United recently announced a new miles pooling feature, allowing groups of up to five travelers to share miles through one account.
—Stella Shon, Travel + Leisure, 21 May 2024
From this past research, the authors pooled the disparate data, and created a simple mathematical model for understanding both the direct and indirect costs of reproduction.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 16 May 2024
Creating data partnerships and collaboration agreements to pool data in place is still a manual process.
—William Mullane, USA TODAY, 12 May 2024
But Trump’s tax advisers took the position that pooling the Chicago tower’s finances with other businesses entitled him to declare even more tax-reducing losses from his Chicago investment.
—Paul Kiel, Fortune, 11 May 2024
The Grand Final Last year, for the first time, viewers in the U.S. were able to vote for their favorite Eurovision performances – though those votes got pooled with other non-participating countries around the world.
—Glen Weldon, NPR, 9 May 2024
For example, parents could pool donations to replace classroom items like a printer or old textbooks.
—Marina Johnson, The Indianapolis Star, 7 May 2024
There is no central repository of vaccine recipients, nor of medical records, and no easy to way to pool these data.
—Apoorva Mandavilli, New York Times, 3 May 2024
Dedicated butlers are efficient and wildly hospitable, doing everything from procuring dinner reservations to pool toys.
—Hannah Seligson, Travel + Leisure, 2 May 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pool.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to pool
Dictionary Entries Near pool
Cite this Entry
“Pool.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pool. Accessed 28 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pool
1 of 4 nounpool
2 of 4 verb
: to form a pool
pool
3 of 4 noun1
: the money bet by a number of persons on an event or in a game
2
: a game played on a billiard table having six pockets with usually 15 object balls
3
: a common fund for making investments
4
a
: a readily available supply
a pool of talent
a typing pool
b
: a group sharing in some activity
a car pool
pool
4 of 4 verb
: to contribute to a common fund or effort
pooled their resources
Etymology
Noun
Old English pōl "a small body of water"
Noun
from French poule "the amount of money bet in a card game," literally, "hen," derived from early French poul "a male chicken, cock" — related to pullet
Medical Definition
pool
1 of 2 intransitive verb
of blood
: to accumulate or become static (as in the veins of a bodily part)
blood pooled in his legs
pool
2 of 2 noun
: 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 see gene pool, metabolic pool
b
: a body product (as blood) collected from many donors and stored for later use
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