reserve

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
10
Words With Friends
11
Letters
7
Pronunciation
/ɹɪˈzɝv/
See all 2 pronunciations
/ɹɪˈzɝv/ · /ɹɪˈzɜːv/

Definition of reserve

25 senses · 3 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. (countable, uncountable)A restriction.
    “The book is on reserve.”
    “I accept your view with one reserve.”
See all 25 definitions

noun

  1. (countable, uncountable)A restriction.
    “The book is on reserve.”
    “I accept your view with one reserve.”
  2. (countable, uncountable)A restriction.
  3. (countable, uncountable)That which is reserved or kept back, as for future use.
    “The tone was set at Trump’s Inauguration. Tech moguls streamed into Washington; some sat behind the President during his Inaugural Address, a signal of the power they would wield. Over the next 11 months, they would use their enormous cash reserves, cultural power, and momentum to push their products into homes across the world.”
  4. (countable, uncountable)That which is reserved or kept back, as for future use.
    “New oil reserves are continuously being discovered, but not as fast as the existing ones are running out.”
    “If Alberta’s reserves are a carbon bomb, this global expansion of tar sands and oil shale exploitation amounts to an escalating emissions arms race, the unlocking of a subterranean cache of weapons of mass ecological destruction.”
  5. (countable, uncountable)That which is reserved or kept back, as for future use.
    “the Connecticut Reserve in Ohio was originally set apart for the school fund of Connecticut.”
    “the Clergy Reserves in Canada are for the support of the clergy.”
  6. (Canada, countable, uncountable)That which is reserved or kept back, as for future use.
  7. (countable, uncountable)That which is reserved or kept back, as for future use.
    “no reserves [the military force is throwing everything it has at the front]”
  8. (countable, uncountable)That which is reserved or kept back, as for future use.
  9. (countable, uncountable)That which is reserved or kept back, as for future use.
    “no reserve [the lot(s) will be sold no matter how low the bids are]”
    “reserve not met [the lot(s) will not be sold because the highest bid was too low to be acceptable]”
  10. (countable, uncountable)That which is reserved or kept back, as for future use.
  11. (countable, uncountable)That which is reserved or kept back, as for future use.
    “Each is decorated with a simple disk in reserve and a band in reserve adorned with white dots.”
  12. (countable, uncountable)Something initially kept back for later use in recreation.
  13. (countable, uncountable)Something initially kept back for later use in recreation.
  14. (countable, uncountable)In exhibitions, a distinction indicating that the recipient will get a prize in the event of another person being disqualified.
  15. (countable, uncountable)A resist.
  16. (countable, uncountable)A preparation used on an object being electroplated to fix the limits of the deposit.

verb

  1. (transitive)To keep back; to retain.
    “We reserve the right to make modifications.”
    “I will reserve judgment until I have actually read his book.”
  2. (ditransitive, transitive)To keep in store for future or special use.
    “This cake is reserved for the guests!”
    “Please reserve me a parking space if you can.”
    “c. 1703-1720, Jonathan Swift, A Letter to a Very Young Lady on Her Marriage Conceal your esteem and love in your own breast, and reserve your kind looks and language for private hours.”
  3. (ditransitive, transitive)To book in advance; to make a reservation for.
    “I reserved a table for us at the best restaurant in town.”
    “Thanks for reserving us a room!”
  4. (obsolete, transitive)To make an exception of; to except.

name

  1. A city in Kansas.
  2. A census-designated place in Louisiana.
  3. A census-designated place in Montana.
  4. A village, the county seat of Catron County, New Mexico.
  5. A census-designated place in Wisconsin.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Old French reserver, from Latin reservō (“to reserve, retain”).

Hooks

4 extensions · 1 front · 3 back

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