Re*serve" , n.
1. (Finance) (a) 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)
Usually, the uninvested cash kept on
hand for this purpose, called the real reserve. In Great Britain the ultimate real reserve is the gold kept
on hand in the Bank of
England, largely represented by the notes in
hand in its
own banking department; and any balance which a bank
has with the Bank of
England is a part of its
reserve. In the United States the reserve of a national
bank consists of the amount of
lawful money it holds on hand
against deposits, which is required by law to be not less than
15 per cent (U. S. Rev. Stat. secs. 5191, 5192),
three fifths of which the banks not in a reserve city (which see) may keep deposited as balances in national banks that are in reserve cities (U. S. Rev. Stat. sec. 5192). (c) (Life Insurance) The amount of funds or assets necessary for a company to
have at any
given time to enable it,
with interest and premiums paid as they shall
accure, to meet all claims on the insurance then in force
as they would mature according to the particular mortality table accepted. The reserve is always reckoned as a liability, and is calculated on net premiums. It is theoretically the difference between the present value of the total
insurance and the present value of the
future premiums on the insurance. The reserve, being an amount for which another company could, theoretically,
afford to take over the
insurance, is sometimes called the reinsurance fund or the self-insurance fund. For the first year upon any
policy the net premium is called the initial reserve, and the balance left at the end of the year
including interest is the terminal reserve. For subsequent years the initial reserve is the net premium, if any, plus the
terminal reserve of the previous year. The portion of the reserve to be
absorbed from the initial reserve in any year in payment of
losses is sometimes called
the insurance reserve, and the terminal reserve is then called the investment reserve.
2. In exhibitions, a distinction which
indicates that the recipient will get a prize if another should be disqualified.
3. (Calico Printing) A resist.
4. A preparation used on an object
being electroplated to fix the limits of the deposit.
5. See Army organization, above.
Re*serve" , n. [F. réserve.]
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. That which is excepted; exception.
Each has some
darling lust, which pleads for a reserve.
Rogers. 4. 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.
5. 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.
6. (Mil.)
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.
7. (Banking) 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.
Re*serve" (r?-z?rv"),
v. t. [imp. & p. p. Reserved. (z&?;rvd");p. pr. & vb. n. Reserving.]
[F.
réserver, L. reservare, reservatum; pref. re- re- + servare to keep. See
Serve.] 1. To keep back;
to retain; not to deliver, make over, or disclose. "I have reserved to myself nothing." Shak.
2.
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. 3. To make an exception of; to except. [R.]
Hear it pronounced