VocabauraVOCABAURA

reserves

noun

Simple meaning

Civilians trained as soldiers but not part of the regular army.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

rihzurvz

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɹɪˈzɝvz

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Civilians trained as soldiers but not part of the regular army

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

This meaning: Civilians trained as soldiers but not part of the regular army

Used this way, reserves is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a military use: it belongs to service and operational language.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Clinical and technical
Usage feel
Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

  • Military
  • Historical writing
  • News/reporting
  • Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use reserves

  • “The company maintains healthy financial reserves for unexpected expenses.”

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “reserves”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

bank reservesexcess reservesnature reservesoil reservesexchange reservesinternational reservesgold reservesforest reserves

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • reserveverbBase word

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

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • reservationnounDerived noun

    A district that is reserved for particular purpose.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: civilians trained as soldiers but not part of the regular army

militia

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “reserves” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

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.