pool

Etymology 1

From Middle English pool, pole, pol, from Old English pōl (“pool”), from Proto-Germanic *pōlaz (“pool, pond”), from Proto-Indo-European *bōlos (“bog, marsh”). Cognate with Scots puil (“pool”), Saterland Frisian Pol (“pool”), West Frisian poel (“pool”), Dutch poel (“pool”), Low German Pohl, Pul (“pool”), German Pfuhl (“quagmire, mudhole”), Danish pøl (“puddle”), Swedish pöl (“puddle, pool”), Icelandic pollur (“puddle”), Lithuanian bala (“bog, marsh, swamp, pool”), Latvian bala (“a muddly, treeless depression”), Russian боло́то (bolóto, “swamp, bog, marsh”).

noun

1. A small and rather deep area of (usually) fresh water, as one supplied by a spring, or occurring in the course of a stream or river; a reservoir for water.
   the pools of Solomon
   the Pool of London
   I loved the brimming wave that swam Thro’ quiet meadows round the mill, The sleepy pool above the dam, The pool beneath it never still, The meal-sacks on the whiten’d floor, The dark round of the dripping wheel, The very air about the door Made misty with the floating meal. 1833, Alfred Tennyson, “The Miller's Daughter”, in Poems, 5th edition, Edward Moxon, published 1848, page 86
2. Any small body of standing or stagnant water; a puddle.
3. Ellipsis of swimming pool.
4. A supply of resources.
   There is a limited pool of candidates from which to choose the new manager.
   dating pool
   The 4-BEP and 4-CEP stock is maintained in a common pool for both Chatham and South Eastern fast main-line services. 1962 June, Rupert Shervington, “The planning and execution of the Kent Coast electrification”, in Modern Railways, page 390
   This is not necessarily surprising; employers often use recessions to pay new workers less because they have such a large pool of potential applicants to choose from, says Ruth Milkman, the Labor Studies Chair at the City University of New York’s School of Labor and Urban Studies. Oct 15 2020, Alana Semuels, “Workers Who Were Laid Off Say They're Being Passed Over—For Their Own Jobs”, in Time
5. (by extension, computing) A set of resources that are kept ready to use.
6. A small amount of liquid on a surface.
   a pool of blood
7. A localized glow of light.
   He walked slowly, passing through one pool of light after another, his shadow running tall across the fronts of the barber shop, the Western Auto, the video-rental shop. 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things

verb

1. (intransitive, of a liquid) To form a pool.

Etymology 2

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.

noun

1. (games, uncountable) 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.
2. (sports) A cue sport played on a pool table. There are 15 balls, 7 of one colour, 7 of another, 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. 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 23, in The Book of Snobs
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.
4. (fencing) A group of fencers taking part in a competition.
5. Any gambling or commercial venture in which several persons join.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. A set of players in quadrille etc.
9. (rail transport) A mutual arrangement between competing lines, by which the receipts of all are aggregated, and then distributed pro rata according to agreement.
10. (law) An aggregation of properties or rights, belonging to different people in a community, in a common fund, to be charged with common liabilities.

verb

1. (transitive) 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?” 1920, Frank L. Packard, chapter 4, in The White Moll
   It all started 6 years ago, as Rutgers University scientists Allan Conney, Ph.D., and George C. Wagner, Ph.D., chatted at an office get-together. […] From this conversation, the two decided to pool their knowledge and join forces. 2007 November, Elizabeth Drake, “Combine and conquer: Use these winning food pairings to protect your health”, in Men's Health, volume 22, number 9, →ISSN, page 124
   27 February 2010, Barack Obama, Presidential Weekly Address - Time for Us to Act Many on both sides agreed that we should give small businesses and individuals the ability to participate in a new insurance marketplace – which members of Congress would also use – that would allow them to pool their purchasing power and get a better deal from insurance companies.
2. (intransitive) To combine or contribute with others, as for a commercial, speculative, or gambling transaction.