[pool] n [ME, fr. OE pol; akin to OHG pfuol pool] (bef. 12c) 1 a (1): a small and rather deep body of usu. fresh water (2): a quiet place in a stream (3): a body of water forming above a dam b: something resembling a pool "a ~ of light"
2: a small body of standing liquid
3: a continuous area of porous sedimentary rock that yields petroleum or gas
4: swimming pool
[2]pool vi (1626) 1: to form a pool
2. of blood: to accumulate or become static (as in the veins of a bodily part) [3]pool n [F poule, lit., hen, fr. OF, fem. of poul cock--more at pullet] (ca. 1712) 1 a: an aggregate stake to which each player of a game has contributed b: all the money bet by a number of persons on a particular event
2. a: a game played on an English billiard table in which each of the players stakes a sum and the winner takes all b: any of various games of billiards played on an oblong table having
6. pockets with usu. 15 object balls
3: an aggregation of the interests or property of different persons made to further a joint undertaking by subjecting them to the same control and a common liability
4: a readily available supply: as a: the whole quantity of a particular material present in the body and available for function or the satisfying of metabolic demands b: a body product (as blood) collected from many donors and stored for later use c: a group of people available for some purpose "a shrinking ~ of applicants" "typing ~"
5: gene pool [4]pool vt (1879): to combine (as resources) in a common fund or effort