pool
noun
- smallish roundish body of water, often man-made to provide a watering place for cattle
- family of cue sports
verb
- to collect together, often to merge resources (e.g. money)
- form a puddle
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /puːl/ / /pul/ / /pʉl/
name
Etymology: In all likelihood from the noun pool.
- A village in Carn Brea parish, Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SW6641).
- Ellipsis of Pool-in-Wharfedale.
- A civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, also known as Pool in Wharfedale.
- An unincorporated community in Nicholas County, West Virginia, United States.
- A department of the Republic of the Congo.
noun
Etymology: 1. From French poule (“collective stakes in a game”). The French word "poule" in this context is an abbreviation of "poulain, pouliche" (foal, filly), and referred to races with female horses under 3 years old. It then became used by punters to designate bets on that race, and started to be used from the racetrack to the stadiums. 2. The OED suggests that this may be a transferred use of poule (“hen”), which has been explained anecdotally as deriving from an old informal betting game in France - 'jeu de poule' - Game of Chicken (or Hen, literally) in which poule became synonymous with the combined money pot claimed by the winner.
- 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.”
- A supply of resources.
“dating pool”
“There is a limited pool of candidates from which to choose the new manager.”
- 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.
- 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.”
- 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.
- A group of fencers taking part in a competition.
- 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.
- Any gambling or commercial venture in which several persons join.
- 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.
- 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.”
- A set of players in quadrille etc.
- A mutual arrangement between competing lines, by which the receipts of all are aggregated, and then distributed pro rata according to agreement.
- An aggregation of properties or rights, belonging to different people in a community, in a common fund, to be charged with common liabilities.
verb
Etymology: 1. From French poule (“collective stakes in a game”). The French word "poule" in this context is an abbreviation of "poulain, pouliche" (foal, filly), and referred to races with female horses under 3 years old. It then became used by punters to designate bets on that race, and started to be used from the racetrack to the stadiums. 2. The OED suggests that this may be a transferred use of poule (“hen”), which has been explained anecdotally as deriving from an old informal betting game in France - 'jeu de poule' - Game of Chicken (or Hen, literally) in which poule became synonymous with the combined money pot claimed by the winner.
- 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?””
- To combine or contribute with others, as for a commercial, speculative, or gambling transaction.