Definition

1. Noun:
   • A large natural or artificial lake used as a source of water supply: A body of water, often created by damming a river, that is stored for use by a community or for irrigation.
   • A container or tank for holding a liquid: A receptacle where a fluid, such as water or oil, is collected and stored.
   • A place where something is kept in store; a reserve or supply: A natural or artificial source from which something is drawn or accumulated.
   • A population, animal, plant, or substance in which an infectious agent lives and multiplies: In medicine and ecology, the habitat where a pathogen normally lives, grows, and reproduces.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Artificial Lake):
  • The city gets its drinking water from a large reservoir in the mountains.
  • They went fishing in the reservoir.
• Noun (Storage Tank):
  • Check the oil reservoir in the engine.
  • The pen has a large ink reservoir.
• Noun (Supply or Reserve):
  • The library is a reservoir of knowledge.
  • She is a reservoir of patience when dealing with children.
• Noun (Medical/Ecological Source):
  • Birds can be a reservoir for the influenza virus.
  • Standing water acts as a reservoir for mosquitoes.

Advanced Usage

• "To act as a reservoir for": To serve as a source or host for something, often something undesirable.
  • Old tires left in yards can act as a reservoir for disease-carrying mosquitoes.
• "Reservoir of goodwill": A deep or accumulated store of positive feeling or trust.
  • His years of honest service built up a considerable reservoir of goodwill with his clients.

Variants and Related Words

• Reservoir rock (n): In geology, a porous rock that contains petroleum or natural gas.
• Carbon reservoir (n): A natural feature, like a forest or the ocean, that absorbs and stores carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Synonyms

• Basin: A natural or artificial hollow place containing water.
• Cistern: A tank for storing water, especially rainwater.
• Repository: A place where or receptacle in which things are or may be stored.
• Stockpile: A large accumulated stock of goods or materials, held in reserve.
• Host: In biology, an animal or plant on or in which a parasite or commensal organism lives.

Related Phrases

• Head of the reservoir: The upstream end of a reservoir, often where a river enters.
• Reservoir capacity: The total volume of water a reservoir can hold.

Related Idioms

• A reservoir of strength: A deep, hidden source of energy or resilience.
  • In difficult times, she drew on a hidden reservoir of strength.
• To tap into a reservoir (of something): To access or begin to use a large supply of something.
  • The writer tapped into a deep reservoir of childhood memories for her novel.

Noun

1. anything (a person or animal or plant or substance) in which an infectious agent normally lives and multiplies
   • an infectious agent depends on a reservoir for its survival
2. tank used for collecting and storing a liquid (as water or oil)
3. lake used to store water for community use
4. a large or extra supply of something
   • a reservoir of talent