Definition of pool

• n. - 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.
• n. - A small body of standing or stagnant water; a puddle.
• n. - 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.
• n. - 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.
• n. - 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.
• n. - Any gambling or commercial venture in which several persons join.
• n. - 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.
• n. - A mutual arrangement between competing lines, by which the receipts of all are aggregated, and then distributed pro rata according to agreement.
• n. - An aggregation of properties or rights, belonging to different people in a community, in a common fund, to be charged with common liabilities.
• v. t. - 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.
• v. i. - To combine or contribute with others, as for a commercial, speculative, or gambling transaction.