reserve Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun formality and propriety of manner
    modesty.
  2. noun something kept back or saved for future use or a special purpose
    stockpile; backlog.
  3. noun an athlete who plays only when a starter on the team is replaced
    second-stringer; substitute.
  4. noun (medicine) potential capacity to respond in order to maintain vital functions
  5. noun a district that is reserved for particular purpose
    reservation.
  6. noun armed forces that are not on active duty but can be called in an emergency
    military reserve.
  7. noun the trait of being uncommunicative; not volunteering anything more than necessary
    reticence; taciturnity.
  8. verb hold back or set aside, especially for future use or contingency
    • they held back their applause in anticipation
  9. verb give or assign a resource to a particular person or cause
    set aside; appropriate; earmark; allow.
    • I will earmark this money for your research
    • She sets aside time for meditation every day
  10. verb obtain or arrange (for oneself) in advance
    • We managed to reserve a table at Maxim's
  11. verb arrange for and reserve (something for someone else) in advance
    hold; book.
    • reserve me a seat on a flight
    • The agent booked tickets to the show for the whole family
    • please hold a table at Maxim's

WordNet

Re*serve" transitive verb
Etymology
F. réserver, L. reservare, reservatum; pref. re- re- + servare to keep. See Serve.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Reserved (zrvd");present participle & verbal noun Reserving
Definitions
  1. To keep back; to retain; not to deliver, make over, or disclose. "I have reserved to myself nothing." Shak.
  2. Hence, to keep in store for future or special use; to withhold from present use for another purpose or time; to keep; to retain. Gen. xxvii. 35.
    Hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble? Job xxxviii. 22,23.
    Reserve your kind looks and language for private hours. Swift.
  3. To make an exception of; to except. R.
Re*serve" noun
Etymology
F. réserve.
Definitions
  1. The act of reserving, or keeping back; reservation.
    However any one may concur in the general scheme, it is still with certain reserves and deviations. Addison.
  2. That which is reserved, or kept back, as for future use.
    The virgins, besides the oil in their lamps, carried likewise a reserve in some other vessel for a continual supply. Tillotson.
  3. That which is excepted; exception.
    Each has some darling lust, which pleads for a reserve. Rogers.
  4. Restraint of freedom in words or actions; backwardness; caution in personal behavior.
    My soul, surprised, and from her sex disjoined, Left all reserve, and all the sex, behind. Prior.
    The clergyman's shy and sensitive reserve had balked this scheme. Hawthorne.
  5. A tract of land reserved, or set apart, for a particular purpose; as, the Connecticut Reserve in Ohio, originally set apart for the school fund of Connecticut; the Clergy Reserves in Canada, for the support of the clergy.
  6. (Mil.) A body of troops in the rear of an army drawn up for battle, reserved to support the other lines as occasion may require; a force or body of troops kept for an exigency.
  7. (Banking) Funds kept on hand to meet liabilities. Syn. -- Reservation; retention; limitation; backwardness; reservedness; coldness; restraint; shyness; coyness; modesty.

Webster 1913