station
    n 1: a facility equipped with special equipment and personnel
         for a particular purpose; "he started looking for a gas
         station"; "the train pulled into the station"
    2: proper or designated social situation; "he overstepped his
       place"; "the responsibilities of a man in his station";
       "married above her station" [syn: place, station]
    3: (nautical) the location to which a ship or fleet is assigned
       for duty
    4: the position where someone (as a guard or sentry) stands or
       is assigned to stand; "a soldier manned the entrance post";
       "a sentry station" [syn: post, station]
    5: the frequency assigned to a broadcasting station
    v 1: assign to a station [syn: station, post, send,
         place]

Station \Sta"tion\ (st[=a]"sh[u^]n), n. [F., fr. L. statio, from
   stare, statum, to stand. See Stand.]
   1. The act of standing; also, attitude or pose in standing;
      posture. [R.]
      [1913 Webster]

            A station like the herald, Mercury.   --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            Their manner was to stand at prayer, whereupon their
            meetings unto that purpose . . . had the names of
            stations given them.                  --Hooker.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A state of standing or rest; equilibrium. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            All progression is performed by drawing on or
            impelling forward some part which was before in
            station, or at quiet.                 --Sir T.
                                                  Browne.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. The spot or place where anything stands, especially where
      a person or thing habitually stands, or is appointed to
      remain for a time; as, the station of a sentinel.
      Specifically:
      (a) 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.
      (b) The headquarters of the police force of any precinct.
      (c) The place at which an instrument is planted, or
          observations are made, as in surveying.
      (d) (Biol.) The particular place, or kind of situation, in
          which a species naturally occurs; a habitat.
      (e) (Naut.) A place to which ships may resort, and where
          they may anchor safely.
      (f) A place or region to which a government ship or fleet
          is assigned for duty.
      (g) (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.
          --Wilhelm (Mil. Dict.).
      (h) (Mining) An enlargement in a shaft or galley, used as
          a landing, or passing place, or for the accommodation
          of a pump, tank, etc.
          [1913 Webster]

   4. Post assigned; office; the part or department of public
      duty which a person is appointed to perform; sphere of
      duty or occupation; employment.
      [1913 Webster]

            By spending this day [Sunday] in religious
            exercises, we acquire new strength and resolution to
            perform God's will in our several stations the week
            following.                            --R. Nelson.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. Situation; position; location.
      [1913 Webster]

            The fig and date -- why love they to remain
            In middle station, and an even plain? --Prior.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. State; rank; condition of life; social status.
      [1913 Webster]

            The greater part have kept, I see,
            Their station.                        --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

            They in France of the best rank and station. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. (Eccl.)
      (a) The fast of the fourth and sixth days of the week,
          Wednesday and Friday, in memory of the council which
          condemned Christ, and of his passion.
      (b) (R. C. Ch.) A church in which the procession of the
          clergy halts on stated days to say stated prayers.
          --Addis & Arnold.
      (c) One of the places at which ecclesiastical processions
          pause for the performance of an act of devotion;
          formerly, the tomb of a martyr, or some similarly
          consecrated spot; now, especially, one of those
          representations of the successive stages of our Lord's
          passion which are often placed round the naves of
          large churches and by the side of the way leading to
          sacred edifices or shrines, and which are visited in
          rotation, stated services being performed at each; --
          called also Station of the cross. --Fairholt.
          [1913 Webster]

   8. In Australia, a sheep run or cattle run, together with the
      buildings belonging to it; also, the homestead and
      buildings belonging to such a run.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   Station bill. (Naut.) Same as Quarter bill, under
      Quarter.

   Station house.
      (a) The house serving for the headquarters of the police
          assigned to a certain district, and as a place of
          temporary confinement.
      (b) The house used as a shelter at a railway station.

   Station master, one who has charge of a station, esp. of a
      railway station.

   Station pointer (Surv.), an instrument for locating on a
      chart the position of a place from which the angles
      subtended by three distant objects, whose positions are
      known, have been observed.

   Station staff (Surv.), an instrument for taking angles in
      surveying. --Craig.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Station, Depot.

   Usage: In the United States, a stopping place on a railway
          for passengers and freight is commonly called a depot:
          but to a considerable extent in official use, and in
          common speech, the more appropriate name, station, has
          been adopted.
          [1913 Webster]

Station \Sta"tion\ (st[=a]"sh[u^]n), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
   Stationed (-sh[u^]nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Stationing.]
   To place; to set; to appoint or assign to the occupation of a
   post, place, or office; as, to station troops on the right of
   an army; to station a sentinel on a rampart; to station ships
   on the coast of Africa.
   [1913 Webster]

         He gained the brow of the hill, where the English
         phalanx was stationed.                   --Lyttelton.
   [1913 Webster]

STATION, civil law. A place where ships may ride in safety. Dig. 49, 12, 1, 
13; id. 50, 15, 59.