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reservoir - 10 dictionary results

res⋅er⋅voir

  [rez-er-vwahr, -vwawr, -vawr, rez-uh-]
Use reservoir in a Sentence
–noun
1. a natural or artificial place where water is collected and stored for use, esp. water for supplying a community, irrigating land, furnishing power, etc.
2. a receptacle or chamber for holding a liquid or fluid.
3. Geology. See under pool 1 (def. 6).
4. Biology. a cavity or part that holds some fluid or secretion.
5. a place where anything is collected or accumulated in great amount.
6. a large or extra supply or stock; reserve: a reservoir of knowledge.
Origin:
1680–90; < F réservoir, equiv. to réserv(er) to reserve + -oir -ory 2

Synonyms:
5. store, pool, fund, stockpile, hoard.

pool

1  [pool]
–noun
1. a small body of standing water; pond.
2. a still, deep place in a stream.
3. any small collection of liquid on a surface: a pool of blood.
4. a puddle.
5. swimming pool.
6. a subterranean accumulation of oil or gas held in porous and permeable sedimentary rock (reservoir).
–verb (used without object)
7. to form a pool.
8. (of blood) to accumulate in a body part or organ.
–verb (used with object)
9. to cause pools to form in.
10. to cause (blood) to form pools.
–adjective
11. of or for a pool: pool filters.
12. taking place or occurring around or near a pool: a pool party.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE pōl; c. D poel, G Pfuhl
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To reservoir
cis·ter·na   (sĭ-stûr'nə)   
n.   pl. cis·ter·nae (-nē)
  1. Anatomy A fluid-containing sac or cavity in the body of an organism. Also called reservoir.
  2. Cytology One of the saclike vesicles that comprise the endoplasmic reticulum.

[Latin, cistern; see cistern.]
cis·ter'nal adj.
res·er·voir   (rěz'ər-vwär', -vwôr', -vôr')   
n.  
  1. A natural or artificial pond or lake used for the storage and regulation of water.
  2. A receptacle or chamber for storing a fluid.
  3. An underground accumulation of petroleum or natural gas.
  4. Anatomy See cisterna.
  5. A large or extra supply; a reserve: a reservoir of good will.
  6. Medicine An organism or a population that directly or indirectly transmits a pathogen while being virtually immune to its effects.

[French réservoir, from réserver, to reserve, from Old French reserver; see reserve.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Reservoir

Res"er*voir`\ (r[e^]z"[~e]r*vw[^o]r`; 277), n. [F. r['e]servoir, fr. LL. reservatorium. See Reservatory.]

1. A place where anything is kept in store; especially, a place where water is collected and kept for use when wanted, as to supply a fountain, a canal, or a city by means of aqueducts, or to drive a mill wheel, or the like.

2. (Bot.) A small intercellular space, often containing resin, essential oil, or some other secreted matter.

Receiving reservoir (Water Works), a principal reservoir into which an aqueduct or rising main delivers water, and from which a distributing reservoir draws its supply.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : reservoir
Spanish: embalse, depósito,
German: das Wasserreservoir,
Japanese: 貯水池
More Translations »

reservoir 
1690, "a place where something tends to collect," from Fr. réservoir "storehouse," from O.Fr. reserver "to reserve" (see reserve). Specific meaning "artificial basin to collect and store a large body of water" is from 1705.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: res·er·voir
Pronunciation: 'rez-&(r)v-"wär, -&(r)v-"(w)or
Function: noun
1 : a space (as an enlargement of avessel or the cavity of a glandular acinus) in which a body fluid is stored
2 : an organism in which a parasite that is pathogenic for some other species lives and multiplieswithout damaging its host; also : a noneconomic organism within which a pathogen of economic or medical importance flourishes without regard to its pathogenicity for the reservoirreservoirs of plague> —compare CARRIER 1a
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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reservoir res·er·voir (rěz'ər-vwär', -vwôr', -vôr')
n.

  1. A fluid-containing sac or cavity.
  2. An organism or a population that directly or indirectly transmits a pathogen while being virtually immune to its effects.
  3. A large or extra supply; a reserve.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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reservoir   (rěz'ər-vwär')  Pronunciation Key 
  1. A natural or artificial pond or lake used for the storage of water.
  2. An underground mass of rock or sediment that is porous and permeable enough to allow oil or natural gas to accumulate in it.
  3. An organism that is the host for a parasitic pathogen or that directly or indirectly transmits a pathogen to which it is immune.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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reservoir

an open-air storage area (usually formed by masonry or earthwork) where water is collected and kept in quantity so that it may be drawn off for use.

Learn more about reservoir with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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