RESERVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does reserve mean? 

• RESERVE (noun)
  The noun RESERVE has 7 senses:

1. formality and propriety of manner

2. something kept back or saved for future use or a special purpose

3. an athlete who plays only when a starter on the team is replaced

4. (medicine) potential capacity to respond in order to maintain vital functions

5. a district that is reserved for particular purpose

6. armed forces that are not on active duty but can be called in an emergency

7. the trait of being uncommunicative; not volunteering anything more than necessary

  Familiarity information: RESERVE used as a noun is common.

• RESERVE (verb)
  The verb RESERVE has 4 senses:

1. hold back or set aside, especially for future use or contingency

2. give or assign a resource to a particular person or cause

3. obtain or arrange (for oneself) in advance

4. arrange for and reserve (something for someone else) in advance

  Familiarity information: RESERVE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RESERVE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Formality and propriety of manner

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

modesty; reserve

Hypernyms ("reserve" is a kind of...):

correctitude; properness; propriety (correct or appropriate behavior)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reserve"):

demureness (the trait of behaving with reserve and decorum)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Something kept back or saved for future use or a special purpose

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

backlog; reserve; stockpile

Hypernyms ("reserve" is a kind of...):

accumulation ((finance) profits that are not paid out as dividends but are added to the capital base of the corporation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reserve"):

bank (a supply or stock held in reserve for future use (especially in emergencies))

fuel level (the amount of fuel remaining)

reserve account; reserve fund (funds taken out of earnings to provide for anticipated future payments)

Derivation:

reserve (give or assign a resource to a particular person or cause)

reserve (hold back or set aside, especially for future use or contingency)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An athlete who plays only when a starter on the team is replaced

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

reserve; second-stringer; substitute

Hypernyms ("reserve" is a kind of...):

athlete; jock (a person trained to compete in sports)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reserve"):

bench warmer ((sports) a substitute who seldom plays)

pinch hitter ((baseball) a substitute for the regular batter)

Holonyms ("reserve" is a member of...):

bench (the reserve players on a team)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(medicine) potential capacity to respond in order to maintain vital functions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("reserve" is a kind of...):

indefinite quantity (an estimated quantity)

Domain category:

medical specialty; medicine (the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reserve"):

pulmonary reserve (the additional volume of air that the lungs can inhale and exhale when breathing to the limit of capacity in times of stress)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A district that is reserved for particular purpose

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

reservation; reserve

Hypernyms ("reserve" is a kind of...):

administrative district; administrative division; territorial division (a district defined for administrative purposes)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reserve"):

Indian reservation (a reservation set aside for the use of Indians)

preserve (a reservation where animals are protected)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Armed forces that are not on active duty but can be called in an emergency

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

military reserve; reserve

Hypernyms ("reserve" is a kind of...):

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Meronyms (members of "reserve"):

reservist (a member of a military reserve)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Derivation:

reservist (a member of a military reserve)

Sense 7

Meaning:

The trait of being uncommunicative; not volunteering anything more than necessary

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

reserve; reticence; taciturnity

Hypernyms ("reserve" is a kind of...):

uncommunicativeness (the trait of being uncommunicative)

• RESERVE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they reserve    ... he / she / it reserves   
Past simple: reserved   
Past participle: reserved   
-ing form: reserving   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hold back or set aside, especially for future use or contingency

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

they held back their applause in anticipation

Hypernyms (to "reserve" is one way to...):

keep back; withhold (hold back; refuse to hand over or share)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reserve"):

devote (set aside or apart for a specific purpose or use)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

reservation (the act of keeping back or setting aside for some future occasion)

reserve (something kept back or saved for future use or a special purpose)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give or assign a resource to a particular person or cause

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

allow; appropriate; earmark; reserve; set aside

Context example:

She sets aside time for meditation every day

Hypernyms (to "reserve" is one way to...):

allot; assign; portion (give out)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Derivation:

reserve (something kept back or saved for future use or a special purpose)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Obtain or arrange (for oneself) in advance

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

We managed to reserve a table at Maxim's

Hypernyms (to "reserve" is one way to...):

ask for; bespeak; call for; quest; request (express the need or desire for)

Verb group:

book; hold; reserve (arrange for and reserve (something for someone else) in advance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reserve"):

book up (book all available places or tickets)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody something

Derivation:

reservation (the act of reserving (a place or passage) or engaging the services of (a person or group))

reservation (something reserved in advance (as a hotel accommodation or a seat on a plane etc.))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Arrange for and reserve (something for someone else) in advance

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

book; hold; reserve

Context example:

please hold a table at Maxim's

Hypernyms (to "reserve" is one way to...):

ask for; bespeak; call for; quest; request (express the need or desire for)

"Reserve" entails doing...:

procure; secure (get by special effort)

Verb group:

reserve (obtain or arrange (for oneself) in advance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reserve"):

hold open; keep; keep open; save (retain rights to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

reservation (the act of reserving (a place or passage) or engaging the services of (a person or group))

reservation (something reserved in advance (as a hotel accommodation or a seat on a plane etc.))

 Context examples 

Why, I was first reserve for England against Wales, and I’ve skippered the ’Varsity all this year.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And then, her reserve—I never could attach myself to any one so completely reserved.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Then suddenly, with a fierce gesture of his closed hand, like one who throws reserve to the winds, he began.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This expression of abandon and surrender, of absolute trust, he reserved for the master alone.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Bitter and truculent when excited, I spoke as I felt, without reserve or softening.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It's for men to do them, and for women to reserve their love as a reward for such men.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

So much too loving and too good for anyone that I could think of, was it possible that she was reserved to be the wife of such a wretch as this!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

They sometimes pass in such very little time from reserve to quite the opposite—to confidence!

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Mercy was a thing reserved for gentler climes.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

"But you would still be reserved," said Marianne, "and that is worse."

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)