RESERVE, v.t. rezerv'. [L. reservo; re and servo, to keep.]

1. That which is kept for other or future use; that which is retained from present use or disposal. The virgins, beside the oil in their lamps, carried likewise a reserve in some other vessel for a continual supply. – Tillotson.
2. Something in the mind withheld from disclosure. However any one may concur in the general scheme, it still with certain reserves and deviations. – Addison.
3. Exception; something withheld. Is knowledge so despis'd? / Or envy, or what reserve forbids to taste? – Milton.
4. Exception in favor. Each has some darling lust, which pleads for a reserve. – Rogers.
5. Restraint of freedom in words or actions; backwardness; caution in personal behavior. Reserve may proceed from modesty, bashfulness, prudence, prudery or sullenness. My soul surpris'd, and from her sex disjoin'd, / Left all reserve, and all the sex behind. – Prior.
6. In law, reservation. In reserve, in store; in keeping for other or future use. He has large quantities of wheat in reserve. He has evidence or arguments in reserve. Body of reserve, in military affairs, the third or last line of an army drawn up for battle, reserved to sustain the other lines as occasion may require; a body of troops kept for an exigency.

1. To keep in store for future or other use; to withhold from present use for another purpose. The farmer sell his corn, reserving only what is necessary for his family. Hast thou seen the treasures of hail, which I have reserved against the day of trouble. – Job xxxviii.
2. To keep; to hold; to retain. Will he reserve his anger forever? – Jer. iii.
3. To lay up and keep for a future time. – 2 Pet. ii. Reserve your kind looks and language for private hours. – Swift.

1. To keep back; to retain; not to deliver, make over, or disclose.
   
   
   "I have reserved to myself nothing." Shak.
2. The act of reserving, or keeping back; reservation.
   
   

   However any one may concur in the general scheme, it is still with certain reserves and deviations. Addison.

3. That part of the assets of a bank or other financial institution specially kept in cash in a more or less liquid form as a reasonable provision for meeting all demands which may be made upon it;
   
   
   specif.: (b) (Banking)
4. Hence, to keep in store for future or special use; to withhold from present use for another purpose or time; to keep; to retain.
   
   
   Gen. xxvii. 35.

   Hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble? Job xxxviii. 22,23.

   Reserve your kind looks and language for private hours. Swift.

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

   The virgins, besides the oil in their lamps, carried likewise a reserve in some other vessel for a continual supply. Tillotson.

6. In exhibitions, a distinction which indicates that the recipient will get a prize if another should be disqualified.
7. To make an exception of; to except.
   
   
   [R.]
8. That which is excepted; exception.
   
   

   Each has some darling lust, which pleads for a reserve. Rogers.

9. A resist.
10. Restraint of freedom in words or actions; backwardness; caution in personal behavior.
    
    

    My soul, surprised, and from her sex disjoined,
    Left all reserve, and all the sex, behind. Prior.

    The clergyman's shy and sensitive reserve had balked this scheme. Hawthorne.

11. A preparation used on an object being electroplated to fix the limits of the deposit.
12. A tract of land reserved, or set apart, for a particular purpose; as, the Connecticut Reserve in Ohio, originally set apart for the school fund of Connecticut; the Clergy Reserves in Canada, for the support of the clergy.
13. See Army organization, above.
14. A body of troops 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.
15. Funds kept on hand to meet liabilities.
    
    

    In reserve, in keeping for other or future use; in store; as, he has large quantities of wheat in reserve; he has evidence or arguments in reserve. -- Reserve air. (Physiol.) Same as Supplemental air, under Supplemental.

    Syn. -- Reservation; retention; limitation; backwardness; reservedness; coldness; restraint; shyness; coyness; modesty.