pool
/puːl/noun, verb
pool is spelled P-O-O-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 47 times per million words in written English, the 2,153rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pool means “A small and rather deep area of (usually) fresh water, as one supplied by a spring, or occurring in the course of a stream or river; a reservoir for…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pool is pools.
How many letters and syllables are in pool?
| Letters | 4: P-O-O-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 47 times per million words; the 2,153rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is pool?
Pool appears 47 times per million words in written English, the 2,153rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce pool?
- UK /puːl/
- British /pʉwl/
- British [pʊwl]
Pool has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-pool.wav, LL-Q7976_(mis)-Le_Rêveur0316-pool.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with pool
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: Poole (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with pool?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pool from its last stressed vowel (/ul/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: loop, polo.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of pool
- pools plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- pooling participle, present
- pooled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pool mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A small and rather deep area of (usually) fresh water, as one supplied by a spring, or occurring in the course of a stream or river; a reservoir for water.
the pools of Solomon
- 2
Any small body of standing or stagnant water; a puddle.
- 3
Ellipsis of swimming pool.
- 4
A set of resources that are kept ready to use.
- 5
Any group of like things.
- 6
A small amount of liquid on a surface.
a pool of blood
- 7
A localized glow of light.
- 8
A supply of resources.
- 9
A number of people when considered as a resource.
dating pool
- 10
A game at billiards, in which each of the players stakes a certain sum, the winner taking the whole; also, in public billiard rooms, a game in which the loser pays the entrance fee for all who engage in the game.
- 11
A cue sport played on a pool table. There are 15 balls, 7 of one colour or solids, 7 of another color or stripes, and the black ball (also called the 8 ball). A player must pocket all their own colour balls and then the black ball in order to win.
- 12
In rifle shooting, a contest in which each competitor pays a certain sum for every shot he makes, the net proceeds being divided among the winners.
- 13
A group of fencers taking part in a competition.
- 14
A set of teams playing each other in the same division, while not during the same period playing any teams that belong to other sets in the division.
- 15
Any gambling or commercial venture in which several persons join.
verb
- 1
To form a pool.
- 2
To put together; contribute to a common fund, on the basis of a mutual division of profits or losses; to make a common interest of.
We must pool our resources.
- 3
To combine or contribute with others, as for a commercial, speculative, or gambling transaction.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pool in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | étang, mare , flaque , réserve, pool, groupe |
| German | Becken , Lache, Pfütze , Fundus |
| Portuguese | piscina , poça , fundo , bilhar , reunir , unir esforços |
| Spanish | poza, pileta, balsa , charco , empozar, apozarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does pool come from?
From Middle English pool, pole, pol, from Old English pōl (“pool”), from Proto-West Germanic pōl, from Proto-Germanic *pōlaz (“pool, pond”), from Proto-Indo-European *bōlos (“bog, marsh”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).