Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.

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.

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.

Pool \Pool\, v. i.
   To combine or contribute with others, as for a commercial,
   speculative, or gambling transaction.

Source : WordNet®

pool
     v 1: combine into a common fund; "We pooled resources"
     2: join or form a pool of people

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}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

POOL
     
        Parallel Object-Oriented Language.
     
        A series of languages from {Philips Research Labs}.
     
        See {POOL2}, {POOL-I}, {POOL-T}.
     
        (1995-02-07)