Hypertext Webster Gateway: "pool"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Pool
a pond, or reservoir, for holding water (Heb. berekhah; modern
Arabic, birket), an artificial cistern or tank. Mention is made
of the pool of Gibeon (2 Sam. 2:13); the pool of Hebron (4:12);
the upper pool at Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:17; 20:20); the pool of
Samaria (1 Kings 22:38); the king's pool (Neh. 2:14); the pool
of Siloah (Neh. 3:15; Eccles. 2:6); the fishpools of Heshbon
(Cant. 7:4); the "lower pool," and the "old pool" (Isa.
22:9,11).
The "pool of Bethesda" (John 5:2,4, 7) and the "pool of
Siloam" (John 9:7, 11) are also mentioned. Isaiah (35:7) says,
"The parched ground shall become a pool." This is rendered in
the Revised Version "glowing sand," etc. (marg., "the mirage,"
etc.). The Arabs call the mirage "serab," plainly the same as
the Hebrew word _sarab_, here rendered "parched ground." "The
mirage shall become a pool", i.e., the mock-lake of the burning
desert shall become a real lake, "the pledge of refreshment and
joy." The "pools" spoken of in Isa. 14:23 are the marshes caused
by the ruin of the canals of the Euphrates in the neighbourhood
of Babylon.
The cisterns or pools of the Holy City are for the most part
excavations beneath the surface. Such are the vast cisterns in
the temple hill that have recently been discovered by the
engineers of the Palestine Exploration Fund. These underground
caverns are about thirty-five in number, and are capable of
storing about ten million gallons of water. They are connected
with one another by passages and tunnels.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
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.
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.
He plays pool at the billiard houses.
--Thackeray.
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. Any gambling or commercial venture in which several
persons join.
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.
6. (Railroads) A mutual arrangement between competing lines,
by which the receipts of all are aggregated, and then
distributed pro rata according to agreement.
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.
{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} (Zo["o]l.), the European redshank. [Prov. Eng.]
{Pool table}, a billiard table with pockets.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
Charity will hardly water the ground where it must
first fill a pool. --Bacon.
The sleepy pool above the dam. --Tennyson.
2. A small body of standing or stagnant water; a puddle.
``The filthy mantled pool beyond your cell.'' --Shak.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
Finally, it favors the poolingof all issues. --U. S.
Grant.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Pool \Pool\, v. i.
To combine or contribute with others, as for a commercial,
speculative, or gambling transaction.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (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: add together, as of resources [syn: {combine}]
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