• Station

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /ˈsteɪʃən/
    • Rhymes: -eɪʃən

    Origin

    From Middle English estacioun, from Anglo-Norman estation, from Latin statiōnem, accusative of statiō ("standing, post, job, position").

    Noun

    station

    (plural stations)
    1. (obsolete) The fact of standing still; motionlessness, stasis.
    2. (astronomy) The apparent standing still of a superior planet just before it begins or ends its retrograde motion.
    3. A stopping place.
      1. A regular stopping place for ground transportation.
        The next station is Esperanza.
      2. A ground transportation depot.
        It's right across from the bus station.
      3. A place where one stands or stays or is assigned to stand or stay.
        From my station at the front door, I greeted every visitor.
        All ships are on station, Admiral.
        • 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde"...Meanwhile, lest anything should really be amiss, or any malefactor seek to escape by the back, you and the boy must go round the corner with a pair of good sticks and take your post at the laboratory door. We give you ten minutes, to get to your stations."
        • 1922, Michael Arlen, “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days Chapter Ep./1/2, He walked. To the corner of Hamilton Place and Picadilly, and there stayed for a while, for it is a romantic station by night. The vague and careless rain looked like threads of gossamer silver passing across the light of the arc-lamps.
      4. (US) A gas station, service station.
    (retrieved 31 October 2012)
        • Localities across New Jersey imposed curfews to prevent looting. In Monmouth, Ocean and other counties, people waited for hours for gasoline at the few stations that had electricity. Supermarket shelves were stripped bare.
    1. A place where workers are stationed.
      1. An official building from which police or firefighters operate.
        The police station is opposite the fire station.
      2. A place where one performs a task or where one is on call to perform a task.
        The waitress was at her station preparing three checks.
      3. A military base.
        She had a boyfriend at the station.
      4. A place used for broadcasting radio or television.
        I used to work at a radio station.
      5. (Australia, New Zealand) A very large sheep or cattle farm.
    2. One of the Stations of the Cross.
    3. The Roman Catholic fast of the fourth and sixth days of the week, Wednesday and Friday, in memory of the council which condemned Christ, and of his passion.
    4. A church in which the procession of the clergy halts on stated days to say stated prayers.
    5. Standing; rank; position.
      She had ambitions beyond her station.
    6. A broadcasting entity.
      I used to listen to that radio station.
    7. (Newfoundland) A harbour or cove with a foreshore suitable for a facility to support nearby fishing.
    8. (surveying) Any of a sequence of equally spaced points along a path.
    9. The particular place, or kind of situation, in which a species naturally occurs; a habitat.
    10. (mining) An enlargement in a shaft or galley, used as a landing, or passing place, or for the accommodation of a pump, tank, etc.
    11. Post assigned; office; the part or department of public duty which a person is appointed to perform; sphere of duty or occupation; employment.
      • Robert Nelson (1656-1715)By spending this day Sunday in religious exercises, we acquire new strength and resolution to perform God's will in our several stations the week following.

    Synonyms

    Full definition of station

    Verb

    (transitive)
    1. To put in place to perform a task.The host stationed me at the front door to greet visitors.
    2. To put in place to perform military duty.They stationed me overseas just as fighting broke out.
    © Wiktionary