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pool¹

(pl)

1. A small body of still water.

2. An accumulation of standing liquid; a puddle: a pool of blood.

3. A deep or still place in a stream.

4. A swimming pool.

5. An underground accumulation of petroleum or gas in porous sedimentary rock.

intr.v. pooled, pool·ing, pools

1. To form pools or a pool: The receding tide pooled in hollows along the shore.

2. To accumulate in a body part: preventing blood from pooling in the limbs.

[Middle English, from Old English pōl.]

pool²

(pl)

a. A game of chance, resembling a lottery, in which the contestants put staked money into a common fund that is later paid to the winner.

b. A fund containing all the money bet in a game of chance or on the outcome of an event.

2. A supply, as of vehicles or workers, available for use by a group.

3. A group of journalists who cover an event and then by agreement share their reports with participating news media: the White House press pool.

a. A mutual fund established by a group of stockholders for speculating in or manipulating prices of securities.

b. The persons or parties participating in such a fund.

5. A grouping of assets, such as mortgages, that serves as a basis for the issuing of securities.

6. An agreement between competing business concerns to establish controls over production, market, and prices for common profit.

7. Any of several games played on a six-pocket billiards table usually with 15 object balls and a cue ball. Also called pocket billiards.

v. pooled, pool·ing, pools

v.tr.

To put into a pool, as for common use: Let's pool our resources to finish the project quickly.

v.intr.

To join or form a pool.

[French poule, hen, stakes, booty, from Old French, hen, young chicken, from Latin pullus, young of an animal; see pau-¹ in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

pooler n.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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