| 释义 |
▪ I. reservoir, n.|ˈrɛzəvwɑː(r)|
Also 8 -oire.
[a. F. réservoir, f. réserver to keep, reserve + -oir: see -ory1.]
1. a. A more or less capacious receptacle (of earthwork, masonry, or the like), specially formed or constructed to contain and store a large supply of water for ordinary uses.
1705Addison Italy 273 A Set of Galleries that are hewn into the Rock... Some will have 'em to have been a Reservoir of Water. 1756C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. 136 Water is conveyed from the reservoirs at Islington to many different parts of our capital. 1788Gibbon Decl. & F. l. V. 177 The towers of Saana, and the marvellous reservoir of Merab, were constructed by the kings of the Homerites. 1841Elphinstone Hist. India II. 121 He was constantly taken up with aqueducts, reservoirs, and other improvements. 1871Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (1879) I. v. 173 At Canterbury there are three reservoirs covered in and protected.
b. A tank or cistern for water.
1727–38Chambers Cycl. s.v., The reservoir in a building is a large bason, usually of wood, lined with lead, where water is kept to supply the occasions of the house. 1771J. Adams Diary 4 June, Wks. 1850 II. 268 They have built a shed over a little reservoir made of wood,..and into that have conveyed the water from the spring. 1787M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) I. 206 A large reservoir of water is placed in the third loft of the house. 1930Daily Express 6 Oct. 3/7 They were..lying in their bunks... Above them were water reservoirs. The force of the explosion burst the water tanks.
c. A place or area in which water naturally collects in large quantities.
1730–46Thomson Autumn 821, I see the rocky siphons stretch'd immense, The mighty reservoirs. 1756C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. 32 Temporary springs..have no reservoir or considerable receptacle in the bowels of the earth. 1784J. Belknap in B. Papers (1877) II. 185 These Mountains, then, are the grand reservoir of water for many parts of New England. 1822J. Flint Lett. Amer. 290 The lake, forming an extensive reservoir, greatly equalizes the discharge of water. 1866Baker Albert N'yanza II. 95, I looked down..upon that vast reservoir which nourished Egypt.
d. fig. A place or sphere where something is collected or tends to collect, after the manner of water.
1690Temple Ess., Learning Misc. II. 9 The Ancient Colledges, or Societies of Priests, were mighty Reservoirs or Lakes of Knowledge. 1728Young Love Fame vi. 323 Grand reservoirs of public happiness, Through secret streams diffusively they bless. 1839Thirlwall Greece l. VI. 233 This had been the principal reservoir..into which the tribute of the East had flowed. 1882Farrar Early Chr. II. 307 Rome—the reservoir, as Tacitus says, into which all things infamous and shameful flowed.
e. A body of porous rock holding a large quantity of oil or natural gas.
1912E. H. C. Craig Oil-Finding iii. 47 In the case of calcareous rocks it is probably merely because the limestone affords a porous reservoir that it is found impregnated with oil. 1938D. Hager Pract. Oil Geol. i. 34 In Mexico the most productive oil reservoirs of the Golden Lane were the reef limestones in the Tamasopa formation. 1951K. K. Landes Petroleum Geol. iii. 101 The escape of gas to the surface in disproportionate amounts to the oil produced will result in more and more sluggish oil being left behind in the reservoir. 1970W. G. Roberts Quest for Oil ii. 16 The first known deposits of mineral oil, or petroleum, were found because they showed themselves as seepages from underground reservoirs. 1980Times 15 May 19/2 British Petroleum has discovered a second, deeper reservoir on its onshore field at Kimmeridge.
2. a. A part of an animal or plant in which some fluid or secretion is collected or retained.
1727–38Chambers Cycl. s.v. Receptaculum, A reservoir or cavity near the left kidney, into which the lacteal vessels do all discharge their contents. 1741Monro Anat. Bones (ed. 3) 24 Such Bones are said to have a large Reservoire of Oil. 1849Balfour Man. Bot. 10 The cavities..are denominated cysts, reservoirs of oil, and receptacles of secretions. 1855T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 2) 513 A large central nervous ganglion, and on each side of this there is a minute round reservoir. 1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 431 The primary arrangement of the secretory reservoirs presents little of interest.
b. A part of some apparatus in which a fluid or liquid is contained. spec. in a closed hydraulic system, a tank containing fluid that can be supplied to the system when needed to compensate for small losses.
1784M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) I. 106 Some particles of mercury had exuded through the leather of the reservoir [in a thermometer]. 1793Beddoes Let. Darwin 46 It was inhaled through a tube, and in consequence of pressure on the reservoir, a strong current set into the mouth. 1830Herschel Stud. Nat. Phil. iii. i. (1851) 229 The pressure of the external air on the surface of the mercury in the reservoir. 1859Hawthorne Marb. Faun xliv, The lamp required to be replenished.., though its reservoir of oil was exceedingly capacious. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1920/2 The reservoirs of ranges are usually vertical iron boilers, connected by pipes with the water supply of the city. 1946W. H. Crouse Automotive Mech. xxv. 550 The master cylinder includes a reservoir or supply tank that contains an additional quantity of brake fluid. 1966Hillier & Pittuck Fund. Motor Vehicle Technol. xvi. 418 The flow of fluid from the reservoir to the main chamber is controlled by a compensating valve, which is set to open when the piston is in the fully returned position. 1970K. Ball Fiat 600, 600D Autobook x. 117/2 Normal maintenance of the hydraulic system is confined to checking the level of the brake fluid in the reservoir at regular intervals.
c. In the organ. (See quots.)
1835Penny Cycl. IV. 198/1 In the organ, the air is condensed into a reservoir called the wind-chest, which supplies the pipes. 1840Ibid. XVI. 492/2 The registrars, by which the equal rising of the reservoir is ensured. 1881C. A. Edwards Organs 41 Bellows consist of two parts, termed respectively the ‘Feeder’ and the ‘Reservoir’.
3. a. Any receptacle for fluids (or vapours).
1774J. Bryant Mythol. I. 194 ætna..being a reservoir of molten matter. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 307 It has a fifth stomach, which serves as a reservoir, to hold a greater quantity of water than the animal has an immediate occasion for. 1792J. Belknap Hist. New Hampsh. III. 114 Large troughs or vats..to serve as reservoirs for the sap when collected. 1808Phil. Trans. XCVIII. 125 The gas..is conveyed by iron pipes into large reservoirs, or gazometers. 1854Brewster More Worlds iii. 49 The fluid matters which produced external volcanoes, exist in internal reservoirs of limited extent, forming subterranean lakes. 1880Haughton Phys. Geog. ii. 68 If there were any communication between their respective reservoirs of molten lava.
†b. A receptacle or repository for things or articles; a place where things are laid up or stored. Obs.
1739R. Bull tr. Dedekindus' Grobianus 114 Down to its Reservoir the Meat's convey'd And due Digestion is the better made. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) s.v. Basin, A wide and spacious reservoir for shipping. 1786tr. Beckford's Vathek (1868) 115 Every reservoir of riches was disclosed to their view. 1803Censor 1 Nov. 126, I thrust my sweetheart into the coal-cellar... I flattered myself that he could remain unseen in some corner of that large reservoir. 1836Backwoods of Canada 216 The inner lining of birch-bark being drawn between the poles so as to form hollow pouches all round; [many articles occupied] these reservoirs.
c. A store or collection, a reserve supply, of something. Also, a reserve supply of people.
1784Cowper Task ii. 201 What is His creation less Than a capacious reservoir of means..? 1813Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. (1814) 215 In the production of a plant from a seed, some reservoir of nourishment is needed before the root can supply sap. 1837Dickens Pickw. iv, The labours of others have raised for us an immense reservoir of important facts. 1860Maury Phys. Geog. vii. §359 There is in the upper regions of the air a great reservoir of positive electricity. 1875Bennett & Dyer tr. Sachs' Bot. 627 The organs of assimilation..stand at a distance from the reservoirs of reserve-material. 1941Illustrated 13 Sept. 12/2 Inside six months he has raised, clothed, equipped, and put into training on a voluntary basis a reservoir of 200,000 young men as potential air crews for the R.A.F. 1943W. Willkie One World x. 131 There exists in the world today a gigantic reservoir of goodwill toward us, the American people. 1973Computers & Humanities VII. 166 Concordances can contribute to linguistic studies as reservoirs of meanings and usages. 1979Wichita (Kansas) Eagle 23 May 3c/6 A potential reservoir of additional workers for Wichita manufacturing has been created by McDonnell Corp., which is laying off workers in St. Louis.
d. Med. A population which is chronically infested with the causative agent of a disease and can infect other populations. Also transf.
1913[see sense 5 a below]. 1939C. F. Carter Microbiol. & Path. (ed. 2) xxiv. 253 For the continuous existence of a disease there must be some reservoir of infection. Ibid., The most important reservoirs of infection are human or animal cases or carriers. Plants may be the reservoir of infection in some of the mycoses. 1947Ann. Rev. Microbiol. I. 353. A precise demonstration of the mechanisms through which the reservoir of the disease functions would constitute a great advance in constructing the biological pattern of influenza. 1965B. E. Freeman tr. Vandel's Biospeleol. xv. 246 It would be possible that bats serve as a reservoir of histoplasmosis. 1977Sci. Amer. Mar. 61/2 When no human being harbours the [smallpox] virus, there should remain only one reservoir: the stocks in research and diagnostic laboratories.
4. ¶ au reservoir: see au revoir.
5. attrib.
a. Having or containing, fitted with, serving as, a reservoir or receptacle of any kind.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XI. 199/2 The operator in general carries the matter about with him on what is called a reservoir lancet. 1845Stimpson Organ in Town Hall B'ham 6 The Bellows of the Great Organ have also what are termed Reservoir Bellows. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1920/2 Reservoir-stove, one having a large boiler attached. 1884Ibid. Suppl. 751/2 Reservoir Battery, one having a reserve of material. Ibid., Reservoir blow-pipe, with air chamber. 1884Pall Mall G. 4 Oct. 4/2 The liquid contained in the so-called reservoir-cells on the walls of the first stomach [of the camel]. 1884Queen 16 Feb. (Advt.), The ‘Victor’ reservoir pen can be used with any good fluid ink, and any ordinary nib... Price 3s.6d. 1889Pall Mall G. 1 Jan. 1/3 Reservoir pens capable of deluging an opponent with ink. 1913Trans. Soc. Trop. Med. & Hygiene VI. 269 The monkey is most probably the normal ‘reservoir host’ [for Physaloptera mordens].
b. Of the nature of, pertaining to, connected with, a water-reservoir.
1839Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 169/2 Reservoir-locks will be found very useful on slack water navigation. 1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 752/1 An electrical reservoir level recorder, used at Nottingham. 1890Engineering 16 May 596/2 The reservoir gauge went back from 15 in. to 10 in. 1894Daily News 31 July 5/3 The construction of the reservoir dam at Assouan.
c. Special Combs.: reservoir engineering, the study and exploitation of natural oil and gas reservoirs; so reservoir engineer; reservoir rock, rock (capable of) forming a reservoir for oil or natural gas.
1949M. Muskat Physical Princ. Oil Production i. 28 While..the.. properties of the reservoir will determine its inherent potentialities as an oil-producing system, there is still much left to the choice of the *reservoir engineer with regard to the actual exploitation program to be undertaken. 1973Mod. Petroleum Technol. (Inst. Petroleum) (ed. 4) v. 172 The primary aim of a reservoir engineer is to obtain maximum recovery at minimum cost.
1946Petroleum Engineer Jan. 51/1 The war..has led to a greater realization than ever before of the need for applying the most advanced *reservoir engineering principles of production and oil conservation to obtain maximum economic recoveries. 1954Mod. Petroleum Technol. (Inst. Petroleum) (ed. 2) iv. 122 A balanced view of production operations calls for some knowledge of the fundamentals of reservoir engineering as well as of the more purely mechanical methods employed. 1977Times 2 Nov. 3 (Advt.), Reservoir engineering is largely an art... Our job is to get information about..oil-bearing rock..below the sea bed.
1912E. H. C. Craig Oil-Finding iii. 46 The relative porosity of strata is one of the determining factors in the movements of oil, and the selection of a *reservoir rock. 1951K. K. Landes Petroleum Geol. vii. 191 Throughout the world, sandstone is by far the most important reservoir rock. 1975G. Anderson Coring i. 18 Permeability normally varies from one location to another vertically as well as horizontally in a reservoir rock.
▪ II. reservoir, v.|ˈrɛzəvwɑː(r)|
[f. the n.]
trans. To store up, keep in or as in a reservoir. Hence ˈreservoired ppl. a.
1858H. W. Beecher Life Thoughts (1859) 65 A reservoired state of feeling out of which the various parts of life ought to flow. 1866Alger Solit. Nat. & Man iii. 156 Mental force is..reservoired, subject to the summons of the will. 1887Pall Mall G. 24 Dec. 10/1 Millions of poods of oil have been lost, owing to the inefficient way in which it is reservoired and stored. 1896L. Abbott Chr. & Soc. Prob. vi. 175 These men are making available to the community the reservoired resources of the globe. |