equipment
Americannoun
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anything kept, furnished, or provided for a specific purpose.
- Synonyms:
- accouterment, paraphernalia, apparatus
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the act of equipping a person or thing.
-
the state of being equipped.
-
the personal knowledge and skill required for a task, occupation, etc..
He has the necessary equipment for law.
-
the rolling stock of a railroad.
noun
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an act or instance of equipping
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the items so provided
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a set of tools, devices, kit, etc, assembled for a specific purpose, such as a soldier's kit and weapons
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of equipment
Explanation
A motherboard and a graphics processor? Duct tape? A circular saw? A solar panel? Depending on what you’re up to, all these things can be considered equipment, which is whatever you need to complete a task. Right away you probably notice that a big chunk of the word equipment is made up of another word, the common verb equip — meaning "to provide someone with the tools they need for a specific task." Add equip to -ment (the suffix of choice when you want to turn a verb into a noun) and voilà! Like magic, the verb changes into a noun, and you end up with equipment: the materials you get when you are equipped to do a particular thing.
Vocabulary lists containing equipment
"Earthquake"
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Scientific Investigation and Reasoning
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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.
That includes support roles like supply pickup, reconnaissance, recovery of equipment or casualties, and hazard inspection.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
The truck has multiple cameras mounted at the front and back, as well as radar and lidar equipment that help determine what’s on the road.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
It quickly recovered when demand for AI tools accelerated and sparked a rally in chip makers, manufacturers of power equipment and other providers of AI infrastructure.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
Solar stocks fell 9% and electrical equipment and infrastructure names were dragged lower after a strong May jobs report pushed Treasury yields higher and revived fears that interest rates could rise again.
From Barron's • Jun. 6, 2026
We were all too aware that the only thing protecting the last people with the equipment and training to Glitch for the United States was a hidden door in the side of a mountain.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
