Lack vs. Pool — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Published on September 29, 2023
Lack refers to the absence or deficiency of something, while Pool usually refers to a small body of still water or a collective grouping of resources or efforts.
Difference Between Lack and Pool
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Lack and Pool are disparate in meaning. Lack represents the absence or insufficiency of something required or desirable. It implies that there is a need or desire that is not being met. On the contrary, Pool denotes a small, often artificially created body of water, or it can represent a collective cooperation where resources or efforts are combined.
In another aspect, Lack typically has a negative connotation, representing something missing or unavailable. Whereas Pool, in contrast, usually possesses a neutral or positive connotation, symbolizing accumulation or availability, be it of water or resources.
Considering grammar, Lack can be used both as a noun and a verb, expressing the state of being without or not having enough of something. Conversely, Pool can also function as both a noun and a verb, illustrating either a small body of liquid or the act of putting together resources or efforts.
Usage of Lack and Pool in sentences also illustrates their differences. A sentence like “We lack sufficient resources” highlights the absence, whereas “Let’s pool our resources” denotes accumulation and combination.
In idiomatic expressions as well, Lack and Pool hold their distinctive meanings. For instance, “lack of judgment” implies the absence of discernment, whereas “car pool” implies a group of people sharing a car.
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Comparison Chart
Meaning
Absence or deficiency
Small body of water or collective resources
Connotation
Negative
Neutral or Positive
Grammatical Use
Can be used as noun and verb
Can be used as noun and verb
Example Sentence
We lack the necessary funds.
We have a pool of funds available.
Idiomatic Usage
Lack of interest
Car pool
Compare with Definitions
Lack
To be missing or deficient.
The room lacks a cozy feel.
Pool
A grouping of resources, funds, or efforts.
We created a car pool to save on gas and parking costs.
Lack
A deficiency or absence of a needed or desired quality or quantity.
The project was delayed due to a lack of funding.
Pool
The combined stakes or bets made in gambling.
We all threw $10 into the pool to see who could guess the final score.
Lack
The state of being without or not having enough of something.
There is a lack of fresh water in arid regions.
Pool
A small body of still water.
Lack
To be without or deficient in.
He lacks the experience needed for the job.
Pool
An accumulation of standing liquid; a puddle
A pool of blood.
Lack
The condition of needing something that is absent or unavailable.
A lack of sleep can lead to numerous health issues.
Pool
A deep or still place in a stream.
Lack
Deficiency or absence
Lack of funding brought the project to a halt.
Pool
A swimming pool.
Lack
A particular deficiency or absence
Owing to a lack of supporters, the reforms did not succeed.
Pool
An underground accumulation of petroleum or gas in porous sedimentary rock.
Lack
To be without or in need of
Lacked the strength to lift the box.
Pool
A game of chance, resembling a lottery, in which the contestants put staked money into a common fund that is later paid to the winner.
Lack
To be missing or deficient
We suspected that he was lying, but proof was lacking.
Pool
A fund containing all the money bet in a game of chance or on the outcome of an event.
Lack
To be in need of something
She does not lack for friends.
Pool
A supply, as of vehicles or workers, available for use by a group.
Lack
A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want.
Pool
A group of journalists who cover an event and then by agreement share their reports with participating news media
The White House press pool.
Lack
(obsolete) A defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy.
Pool
A mutual fund established by a group of stockholders for speculating in or manipulating prices of securities.
Lack
(transitive) To be without, to need, to require.
My life lacks excitement.
Pool
The persons or parties participating in such a fund.
Lack
(intransitive) To be short (of or for something).
He'll never lack for company while he's got all that money.
Pool
A grouping of assets, such as mortgages, that serves as a basis for the issuing of securities.
Lack
To be in want.
Pool
An agreement between competing business concerns to establish controls over production, market, and prices for common profit.
Lack
(obsolete) To see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach.
Pool
Any of several games played on a six-pocket billiards table usually with 15 object balls and a cue ball. Also called pocket billiards.
Lack
Blame; cause of blame; fault; crime; offense.
Pool
To form pools or a pool
The receding tide pooled in hollows along the shore.
Lack
Deficiency; want; need; destitution; failure; as, a lack of sufficient food.
She swooneth now and now for lakke of blood.
Let his lack of years be no impediment.
Pool
To accumulate in a body part
Preventing blood from pooling in the limbs.
Lack
To blame; to find fault with.
Love them and lakke them not.
Pool
To put into a pool, as for common use
Let's pool our resources to finish the project quickly.
Lack
To be without or destitute of; to want; to need.
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.
Pool
To join or form a pool.
Lack
To be wanting; often, impersonally, with of, meaning, to be less than, short, not quite, etc.
What hour now?I think it lacks of twelve.
Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty.
Pool
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
Lack
To be in want.
The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger.
Pool
Any small body of standing or stagnant water; a puddle.
Lack
Exclamation of regret or surprise.
Pool
Ellipsis of swimming pool
Lack
The state of needing something that is absent or unavailable;
There is a serious lack of insight into the problem
Water is the critical deficiency in desert regions
For want of a nail the shoe was lost
Pool
A supply of resources.
There is a limited pool of candidates from which to choose the new manager.
Dating pool
Lack
Be without;
This soup lacks salt
There is something missing in my jewellery box!
Pool
A set of resources that are kept ready to use.
Pool
A small amount of liquid on a surface.
A pool of blood
Pool
A localized glow of light.
Pool
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.
Pool
(sport) A cue sport played on a pool table. There are 15 balls, 7 of one colour, 7 of another, 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.
Pool
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.
Pool
(fencing) A group of fencers taking part in a competition.
Pool
Any gambling or commercial venture in which several persons join.
Pool
The stake played for in certain games of cards, billiards, etc.; an aggregated stake to which each player has contributed a share; also, the receptacle for the stakes.
Pool
A combination of persons contributing money to be used for the purpose of increasing or depressing the market price of stocks, grain, or other commodities; also, the aggregate of the sums so contributed.
The pool took all the wheat offered below the limit.
He put $10,000 into the pool.
Pool
A set of players in quadrille etc.
Pool
(rail transport) A mutual arrangement between competing lines, by which the receipts of all are aggregated, and then distributed pro rata according to agreement.
Pool
(legal) An aggregation of properties or rights, belonging to different people in a community, in a common fund, to be charged with common liabilities.
Pool
To form a pool.
Pool
(transitive) 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.
Pool
(intransitive) To combine or contribute with others, as for a commercial, speculative, or gambling transaction.
Pool
A small and rather deep collection of (usually) fresh water, as one supplied by a spring, or occurring in the course of a stream; a reservoir for water; as, the pools of Solomon.
Charity will hardly water the ground where it must first fill a pool.
The sleepy pool above the dam.
Pool
A small body of standing or stagnant water; a puddle.
Pool
The stake played for in certain games of cards, billiards, etc.; an aggregated stake to which each player has contributed a snare; also, the receptacle for the stakes.
Pool
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; a game of skill in pocketing the balls on a pool table.
He plays pool at the billiard houses.
Pool
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.
Pool
Any gambling or commercial venture in which several persons join.
Pool
A combination of persons contributing money to be used for the purpose of increasing or depressing the market price of stocks, grain, or other commodities; also, the aggregate of the sums so contributed; as, the pool took all the wheat offered below the limit; he put $10,000 into the pool.
Pool
A mutual arrangement between competing lines, by which the receipts of all are aggregated, and then distributed pro rata according to agreement.
Pool
An aggregation of properties or rights, belonging to different people in a community, in a common fund, to be charged with common liabilities.
Pool
To put together; to contribute to a common fund, on the basis of a mutual division of profits or losses; to make a common interest of; as, the companies pooled their traffic.
Finally, it favors the poolingof all issues.
Pool
To combine or contribute with others, as for a commercial, speculative, or gambling transaction.
Pool
An excavation that is (usually) filled with water
Pool
A small lake;
The pond was too small for sailing
Pool
An organization of people or resources that can be shared;
A car pool
A secretarial pool
When he was first hired he was assigned to the pool
Pool
An association of companies for some definite purpose
Pool
Any communal combination of funds;
Everyone contributed to the pool
Pool
A small body of standing water (rainwater) or other liquid;
There were puddles of muddy water in the road after the rain
The body lay in a pool of blood
Pool
The combined stakes of the betters
Pool
Something resembling a pool of liquid;
He stood in a pool of light
His chair sat in a puddle of books and magazines
Pool
Any of various games played on a pool table having 6 pockets
Pool
Combine into a common fund;
We pooled resources
Pool
Join or form a pool of people
Pool
A small body of standing water.
The kids splashed around in the pool all day.
Pool
A game played on a rectangular table where players strike balls into pockets.
He won three games of pool last night.
Pool
To combine (resources or efforts) for mutual benefit.
Let’s pool our ideas to find the best solution.
Common Curiosities
Can Lack be used as a verb?
Yes, Lack can function as a verb and a noun.
Does Lack have a negative connotation?
Yes, Lack typically has a negative connotation.
Can you use Lack in a sentence?
Yes. For example, “He lacks the qualifications for the job.”
What does Pool typically refer to?
Pool typically refers to a small body of still water or a collective grouping of resources.
What does Lack represent?
Lack represents the absence or insufficiency of something.
Are Lack and Pool antonyms?
Not strictly, but they can represent opposite concepts of absence and accumulation in certain contexts.
Is Lack associated with needs or wants?
Lack can be associated with both unmet needs and unfulfilled desires.
Can Pool be used as both a noun and a verb?
Yes, Pool can be used as both a noun, representing a collection or accumulation, and as a verb, meaning to combine or accumulate resources.
Is Pool associated with collaboration?
Yes, when referring to resources or efforts, Pool often implies collaboration or collective contribution.
Is it correct to say “Lack of water in the pool”?
Yes, this phrase correctly uses both words, implying there isn’t enough water in the pool.
Can Pool have a positive connotation?
Yes, Pool can have a neutral or positive connotation, particularly when referring to collective resources or efforts.
Can you provide an example sentence for Pool?
Certainly. “We decided to pool our money to buy a gift.”
Can both Lack and Pool be used in formal writing?
Yes, both words are appropriate for formal writing.
Can Lack and Pool be used in idioms?
Yes, for example, “lack of judgment” and “car pool.”
Which one is positive, Lack or Pool?
Generally, Pool is considered to have a more positive or neutral connotation, while Lack is more negative.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
