Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A place or position where a person or thing stands or is assigned to stand; a post.
  • noun An area where a person is assigned to work.
  • noun The place, building, or establishment from which a service is provided or operations are directed.
  • noun A stopping place along a route, especially a stop for refueling or for taking on passengers; a depot.
  • noun Australian & New Zealand A large ranch on which livestock, especially cattle or sheep, are raised.
  • noun Social position; rank.
  • noun An establishment equipped for observation and study.
  • noun An establishment equipped for radio or television transmission.
  • noun One that broadcasts radio or television transmissions.
  • noun A frequency assigned to a broadcaster.
  • noun An input or output point along a communications system.
  • noun A precise point from which measurements in surveying are made.
  • noun Ecology A sampling location.
  • noun Roman Catholic Church Any of the Stations of the Cross.
  • noun One of a series of holy places visited by pilgrims as a ritual devotion.
  • transitive verb To assign to a position; post.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A standing still; a state of rest or inactivity.
  • noun Manner of standing; attitude; pose: rare except in the specific uses.
  • noun Specifically— In medicine, the steadiness (freedom from swaying) with which one stands.
  • noun The manner of standing or the attitude of live stock, particularly of exhibition game fowls: as, a duckwing game-cock of standard high station.
  • noun The spot or place where anything habitually stands or exists; particularly, the place to which a person is appointed and which he occupies for the performance of some duty; assigned post: as, a life-boat station; an observing-station; the station of a sentinel; the several stations of the officers and crew of a ship when the fire-signal is sounded.
  • noun The place where the police force of any district is assembled when not on duty; a district or branch police office. See police station, under police.
  • noun The place where the British officers of a district in India, or the officers of a garrison, reside; also, the aggregate of society in such a place: as, to ask the station to dinner.
  • noun The condition or position of an animal or a plant in its habitat, or its relation to its environment: often used synonymously with habitat (but habitat is simply the place where an animal or plant lives, station the condition under which it lives there).
  • noun In surveying: The place selected for planting the instrument with which an observation is to be made. A regular stopping-place.
  • noun Eccles.: In the early church, an assembly of the faithful in the church, especially for the celebration of the eucharist.
  • noun The fast and service on Wednesday and Friday (except between Easter and Pentecost), in memory of the council which condemned Christ, and of his passion.
  • noun Among Roman Catholics, a church where indulgences are to be obtained on certain days.
  • noun Situation; position.
  • noun Status; rank; standing; specifically, rank or standing in life; social state or position; condition of life; hence, high rank or standing.
  • noun In mining, an enlargement made in a shaft, level, or gangway to receive a pump, bob, tank, or machinery of any kind.
  • noun Synonyms . See depot.
  • To assign a station or position to: as, to station troops on the right or left of an army; to station a sentinel on a rampart; to station one's self at a door.
  • noun In phytogeography, the spot at which a plant has been collected or a species has been observed to occur.
  • noun In the Meth. Ch., a single church supplied with a fixed pastor: distinguished from a circuit. See circuit, 9.
  • noun In zoology, the particular district or districts inhabited by a given group of animals. See area.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun rare The act of standing; also, attitude or pose in standing; posture.
  • noun obsolete A state of standing or rest; equilibrium.
  • noun The spot or place where anything stands, especially where a person or thing habitually stands, or is appointed to remain for a time.
  • noun A regular stopping place in a stage road or route; a place where railroad trains regularly come to a stand, for the convenience of passengers, taking in fuel, moving freight, etc.
  • noun The headquarters of the police force of any precinct.
  • noun The place at which an instrument is planted, or observations are made, as in surveying.
  • noun (Biol.) The particular place, or kind of situation, in which a species naturally occurs; a habitat.
  • noun (Naut.) A place to which ships may resort, and where they may anchor safely.
  • noun A place or region to which a government ship or fleet is assigned for duty.
  • noun (Mil.) A place calculated for the rendezvous of troops, or for the distribution of them; also, a spot well adapted for offensive or defensive measures.
  • noun (Mining) An enlargement in a shaft or galley, used as a landing, or passing place, or for the accommodation of a pump, tank, etc.
  • noun Post assigned; office; the part or department of public duty which a person is appointed to perform; sphere of duty or occupation; employment.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English stacioun, from Old French station, from Latin statiō, statiōn-; see stā- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

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Examples

  • I could agree to one thing: if you computed trends per station that is: a trend for *each station* and if the station bias was constant over time – then the bias would not affect the trend.

    A Second Look at USHCN Classification « Climate Audit 2007

  • Response:I've included an image here of the relative location of the station (red arrow) and where Steve showed the fictitious “airport asos station” (green arrow).

    Tucson Then and Now « Climate Audit 2007

  • At Harrow, the District Railway built its station in Roxeth and named it South Harrow, while in the hamlet of Hooking Green the Metropolitan Railway called its ­station North Harrow.

    The Guardian World News 2010

  • Unlike other automakers, Fisker even uses the term "station wagon" to describe it, clearly not shying away from any stigma that might have.

    FOXNews.com foxnewsonline@foxnews.com 2011

  • Unlike other automakers, Fisker even uses the term "station wagon" to describe it, clearly not shying away from any stigma that might have.

    FOXNews.com foxnewsonline@foxnews.com 2011

  • Despite that, I still think the Tottori confession at the train station from the anime was so much better.

    Honey and Clover J-drama – ep 10 « Undercover 2008

  • The train station is normally an half hour away, but with traffic being extra heavy, it took a full hour and a half.

    MindTrap Friday 2008

  • The closest I got to Science Fiction was travelling to Birmingham on a busy weekend, walking down to street level from out of the shopping centre that the train station is encased in, deep into a busy bottlenecked crowd that felt like …

    Planet-x.com.au » American Surburbia In The Eighties, Science Fiction And Growing Up … 2008

  • In space a station is required to maintain order, while a side organization supplies that station from the moon, while other corporations operate shuttle and repair services to satellites and allowing Naval facility on the moon to operate the mini-three man ships to reach orbit with levelled operations which reach orbit and the moon.

    Obama, McCain talk 2008

  • In addition to the subway, like the airport, the train station is always a great place to people watch as well.

    Stream of Consciousness from an Airport 2008

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