: a number of animals (such as whales) clustered together
2
: a usually small group of people (such as family members, friends, coworkers, or classmates) who regularly interact closely with one another but with few or no others in order to minimize exposure and reduce the transmission of infection during an outbreak of a contagious disease : bubbleentry 1 sense 7b
If you're planning to celebrate with close family or friends who aren't in your quarantine pod, there are a few ways to make sure your gathering is safe for everyone. Kelly Vaughan
You can … share a beer tent you built in your backyard with your pandemic pod or even have a neighborhood street party with everyone in their own front yards.PR Newswire
… oversaw the engineering of new processes … with … employees working in pods so if someone became ill, only that group was affected. Joanna Pachner
For example, students are broken up into pods throughout the day and in classrooms so if there is a COVID-19 case, it's easier for the school to contact trace and know who to keep home. Ryan Nickerson
Pods—a homeschooling option that puts students together in small groups as a way to share remote learning supervision and child care duties between their respective families—have caught on across the U.S. as school districts move classes online amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Erin Udell