reserve
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Get or arrange in advance.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rihzurvSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹɪˈzɝv
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Obtain or arrange (for oneself) in advance
“We managed to reserve a table at Maxim's.”
transitiveditransitive
To book in advance; to make a reservation for.
Arrange for and reserve (something for someone else) in advance
transitive
To keep back; to retain.
Hold back or set aside, especially for future use or contingency
noun
The act of reserving or keeping back; reservation; exception.
That which is reserved or kept back, as for future use.
A tract of land reserved, or set apart, for a particular purpose
canada
A tract of land set apart for the use of an Aboriginal group: Indian reserve.
A natural resource known to exist but not currently exploited.
Wine held back and aged before being sold.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of reserving or keeping back; reservation; exception.
Used this way, reserve is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use reserve
- “We managed to reserve a table at Maxim's.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Civilians trained as soldiers but not part of the regular army.
Set aside for the use of a particular person or party.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A district that is reserved for particular purpose.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Funds taken out of earnings to provide for anticipated future payments.
A training program to prepare college students to be commissioned officers.
One of 12 regional banks that monitor and act as depositories for banks in their region.
A clause that used to be part of the contract with a professional athlete extending the contract for a year beyond its expiration.
Funds taken out of earnings to provide for anticipated future payments.
Armed forces that are not on active duty but can be called in an emergency.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.