pools

pool ¹  (pl)

n.

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.

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[Middle English, from Old English pl.]

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pool ²  (pl)

n.

1.

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 grouping of resources for the common advantage of the participants: a pool of implements for the use of all the workers on the estate; forming a pool of our talents.

3. An available supply, the use of which is shared by a group.

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

5.

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.

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 fund for use by all: Let's pool our resources to finish the project quickly.

v.intr.

To join or form a pool.

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

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pooler n.

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pools

Noun, pl

the pools Chiefly Brit a nationwide mainly postal form of gambling which bets on the results of football matches