pool

noun

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”

   “the Pool of London”

   “[…] at laſt I left them I’ th’ filthy mantled poole beyond your Cell, There dancing vp to th’ chins, that the fowle Lake Ore-ſtunck their feet.”

   “A Single Life doth well with Church-men : For Charitie will hardly water the Ground, where it muſt firſt fill a Poole.”

   “I loved the brimming wave that swam Thro’ quiet meadows round the mill, The sleepy pool above the dam, The pool beneath it never still, The meal-sacks on the whiten’d floor, The dark round of the dripping wheel, The very air about the door Made misty with the floating meal.”

2. Any small body of standing or stagnant water; a puddle.
3. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis)Ellipsis of swimming pool.
4. (broadly)A set of resources that are kept ready to use.
5. (broadly)Any group of like things.
6. A small amount of liquid on a surface.

   “a pool of blood”

7. 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.”

8. 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.”

9. A supply of resources.

   “dating pool”

   “There is a limited pool of candidates from which to choose the new manager.”

   “This is not necessarily surprising; employers often use recessions to pay new workers less because they have such a large pool of potential applicants to choose from, says Ruth Milkman, the Labor Studies Chair at the City University of New York’s School of Labor and Urban Studies.”

10. (uncountable)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.
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. 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.
13. A group of fencers taking part in a competition.
14. 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.
15. Any gambling or commercial venture in which several persons join.
16. 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.
17. 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.”

    “He put $10,000 into the pool.”

18. A set of players in quadrille etc.
19. A mutual arrangement between competing lines, by which the receipts of all are aggregated, and then distributed pro rata according to agreement.
20. An aggregation of properties or rights, belonging to different people in a community, in a common fund, to be charged with common liabilities.

verb

1. (intransitive)To form a pool.
2. (transitive)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.

   “We must pool our resources.”

   ““She must be exceedingly clever to have beaten the police the way she has for the last few years; and—er—I worship at the shrine of cleverness—especially if it be a woman’s. The idea struck me last night that if she and I should—er—pool our resources, we should not have to complain of the reward.” “Oh, so youse wants to work wid her, eh?” sniffed Rhoda Gray. “So dat’s it, is it?””

   “It all started 6 years ago, as Rutgers University scientists Allan Conney, Ph.D., and George C. Wagner, Ph.D., chatted at an office get-together. […] From this conversation, the two decided to pool their knowledge and join forces.”

   “27 February 2010, Barack Obama, Presidential Weekly Address - Time for Us to Act Many on both sides agreed that we should give small businesses and individuals the ability to participate in a new insurance marketplace – which members of Congress would also use – that would allow them to pool their purchasing power and get a better deal from insurance companies.”

3. (intransitive)To combine or contribute with others, as for a commercial, speculative, or gambling transaction.

name

1. A village in Carn Brea parish, Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SW6641).
2. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis)Ellipsis of Pool-in-Wharfedale.
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.