depot
/ˈdɛpəʊ
/noun
1A place for the storage of large quantities of equipment, food, or goods: an arms depot...
- He says the government is trying to secure loans to build granaries and depots to store food to help the people through difficult times.
- A food storage depot was looted and burned down during the night and businesses were badly hit by the tense atmosphere yesterday.
- They have prevented the government building granaries and food depots that could store grain from one year to the next.
Synonyms
storehouse, warehouse, store, storage place, storing place, repository, depository, cache;
arsenal, magazine, armoury, ammunition dump, ordnance depot
archaic garner
2A place where buses, trains, or other vehicles are housed and maintained and from which they are dispatched for service.The company employs 5,500 people in Britain, many of them at train maintenance depots....
- In the past, diesel locos and coaches, which formed services on the West of England line, had been maintained at several depots.
- The drivers immediately discharged their passengers and drove their buses back to the depots, bringing transport services in Edinburgh to a virtual standstill for three hours.
2.1North American A railway or bus station.The resistance movement rescued downed pilots, radioed military movements to London, and sabotaged German railway depots....
- Have you heard the rumours of a tunnel under the Viaduct, or the one connecting the main Post Office basement to the railway depot?
- The moment of explicit defiance of command authority came most often at railway depots or other embarkation points.
Synonyms
terminal, terminus, station, garage;
bus station, coach station, railway station, train station;
headquarters, base
3 Military A place where recruits are trained or other troops are assembled: only conscripts who lived near a training depot had permission to commute to it...
- This was mirrored in England by the establishment of regimental depots after the army reforms.
- The four recruiting depots have been busy all day, air raid warning tests have been heard across the city this evening, and posters are calling for volunteers for first aid.
- Currently, the regional army commanders are responsible for their respective regional army depots, logistics support units, and medical units.
Origin
Late 18th century (in the sense 'act of depositing'): from French dépôt, from Latin depositum 'something deposited' (see deposit).
Latin depositum, ‘something put down’, is the source of both depot and deposit (late 16th century), although depot entered English from French dépôt. The earliest meaning of depot was ‘an act of depositing’ rather than ‘a place for storage’, as it is now. The earliest depots were military establishments for stores, assembled recruits, and even prisoners of war.