in reserve

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Springboks possess considerable depth with Kolisi still captaining a team including Jasper Wiese, Damian de Allende, Damian Willemse and new fly-half star Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, with Eben Etzebeth and Bongi Mbonambi in reserve.

From BBC

“But we always keep people in reserve. We never say, ‘Oh, dump the whole county to the Palisades fire,’ because we always have to be prepared for the second fire.”

From Los Angeles Times

Whatever the historicity of this story, it captures the perceived image of a snake in China and other East Asian countries: resourceful, audacious, cunning, alert to opportunity and conscious of the power it holds in reserve.

From Salon

The 46-gun frigate was built during peacetime and launched in 1824, spending its early life in reserve, anchored on the River Medway in the south east of England.

From BBC

If the U.S. would supply Ukraine with just one of the Terminal High-Altitude Air Defense batteries that we keep in reserve for contingency operations — the same technology being sent to Israel to counter Iranian missiles — Kyiv could take the sting out of Moscow’s longer-range ballistic missile threats.

From Los Angeles Times