From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
pool
n 1: an excavation that is (usually) filled with water
2: a small lake; "the pond was too small for sailing" [syn:
pond]
3: an organization of people or resources that can be shared;
"a car pool"; "a secretarial pool"; "when he was first
hired he was assigned to the pool"
4: an association of companies for some definite purpose [syn:
consortium, syndicate]
5: any communal combination of funds; "everyone contributed to
the pool"
6: a small body of standing water (rainwater) or other liquid;
"there were puddles of muddy water in the road after the
rain"; "the body lay in a pool of blood" [syn: puddle]
7: the combined stakes of the betters [syn: kitty]
8: something resembling a pool of liquid; "he stood in a pool
of light"; "his chair sat in a puddle of books and
magazines" [syn: puddle]
9: any of various games played on a pool table having 6 pockets
[syn: pocket billiards]
v 1: combine into a common fund; "We pooled resources"
2: join or form a pool of people
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Pool \Pool\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pooled; p. pr. & vb. n.
Pooling.]
To put together; to contribute to a common fund, on the basis
of a mutual division of profits or losses; to make a common
interest of; as, the companies pooled their traffic.
[1913 Webster]
Finally, it favors the poolingof all issues. --U. S.
Grant.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Pool \Pool\, n. [AS. p[=o]l; akin to LG. pool, pohl, D. poel, G.
pfuhl; cf. Icel. pollr, also W. pwll, Gael. poll.]
1. A small and rather deep collection of (usually) fresh
water, as one supplied by a spring, or occurring in the
course of a stream; a reservoir for water; as, the pools
of Solomon. --Wyclif.
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Charity will hardly water the ground where it must
first fill a pool. --Bacon.
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The sleepy pool above the dam. --Tennyson.
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2. A small body of standing or stagnant water; a puddle. "The
filthy mantled pool beyond your cell." --Shak.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Pool \Pool\, n. [F. poule, properly, a hen. See Pullet.]
[Written also poule.]
1. The stake played for in certain games of cards, billiards,
etc.; an aggregated stake to which each player has
contributed a snare; also, the receptacle for the stakes.
[1913 Webster]
2. 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 game of
skill in pocketing the balls on a pool table.
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Note: This game is played variously, but commonly with
fifteen balls, besides one cue ball, the contest being
to drive the most balls into the pockets.
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He plays pool at the billiard houses.
--Thackeray.
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3. 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.
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4. Any gambling or commercial venture in which several
persons join.
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5. 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; as, the pool took
all the wheat offered below the limit; he put $10,000 into
the pool.
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6. (Railroads) A mutual arrangement between competing lines,
by which the receipts of all are aggregated, and then
distributed pro rata according to agreement.
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7. (Law) An aggregation of properties or rights, belonging to
different people in a community, in a common fund, to be
charged with common liabilities.
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Pin pool, a variety of the game of billiards in which small
wooden pins are set up to be knocked down by the balls.
Pool ball, one of the colored ivory balls used in playing
the game at billiards called pool.
Pool snipe (Zool.), the European redshank. [Prov. Eng.]
Pool table, a billiard table with pockets.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Pool \Pool\, v. i.
To combine or contribute with others, as for a commercial,
speculative, or gambling transaction.
[1913 Webster]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Sep 2003) [foldoc]:
POOL
Parallel Object-Oriented Language.
A series of languages from Philips Research Labs.
See POOL2, POOL-I, POOL-T.
(1995-02-07)