Definition of "reserve"

A restriction.

1. The act of reserving or keeping back; reservation; exception.  examples

2. Restraint of freedom in words or actions; backwardness; caution in personal behavior.  examples

That which is reserved or kept back, as for future use.

1. A natural resource known to exist but not currently exploited.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • If Alberta’s reserves are a carbon bomb, this global expansion of tar sands and oil shale exploitation amounts to an escalating emissions arms race, the unlocking of a subterranean cache of weapons of mass ecological destruction.

     2014 April 25, Martin Lukacs, “Canada becoming launch-pad of a global tar sands and oil shale frenzy”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 190, number 20, page 13

2. A tract of land reserved, or set apart, for a particular purpose  examples

3. (Canada) A tract of land set apart for the use of an Aboriginal group; Indian reserve (compare US reservation.)  examples

4. (military) A body of troops kept 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.

5. (finance, insurance) Funds kept on hand to meet planned or unplanned financial requirements.  examples

6. A reserve price in an auction.  examples

7. Wine held back and aged before being sold.  examples

8. (ceramics) Absence of color or decoration; the state of being left plain.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Each is decorated with a simple disk in reserve and a band in reserve adorned with white dots.

     1973, Charles Kyrle Wilkinson, Nishapur: Pottery of the Early Islamic Period, New York, N.Y: Metropolitan Museum of Art, page 161

Something initially kept back for later use in recreation.

1. (sports) A member of a team who does not participate from the start of the game, but can be used to replace tired or injured team-mates.  examples

2. (card games) A group or pile of cards dealt out at the beginning of a patience or solitaire game to be used during play.  examples

In exhibitions, a distinction indicating that the recipient will get a prize in the event of another person being disqualified.  examples

(calico printing) A resist.  examples

A preparation used on an object being electroplated to fix the limits of the deposit.  examples

To keep back; to retain.  examples

To keep in store for future or special use.  quotations  examples

To book in advance; to make a reservation.  examples

(obsolete) To make an exception of; to except.