supply
1to furnish or provide (a person, establishment, place, etc.) with what is lacking or requisite: to supply someone clothing;to supply a community with electricity.
to furnish or provide (something wanting or requisite): to supply electricity to a community.
to make up, compensate for, or satisfy (a deficiency, loss, need, etc.): The TVA supplied the need for cheap electricity.
to fill or occupy as a substitute, as a vacancy, a pulpit, etc.: During the summer local clergymen will supply the pulpit.
to fill the place of another, especially the pulpit of a church, temporarily or as a substitute: Who will supply until the new minister arrives?
the act of supplying, furnishing, providing, satisfying, etc.: to begin the supply of household help.
something that is supplied: The storm cut off our water supply.
a quantity of something on hand or available, as for use; a stock or store: Did you see our new supply of shirts?
Usually supplies . a provision, stock, or store of food or other things necessary for maintenance: to lay in supplies for the winter.
Economics. the quantity of a commodity that is in the market and available for purchase or that is available for purchase at a particular price.
supplies, Military.
all items necessary for the equipment, maintenance, and operation of a military command, including food, clothing, arms, ammunition, fuel, materials, and machinery.
procurement, distribution, maintenance, and salvage of supplies.
a person who fills a vacancy or takes the place of another, especially temporarily.
supplies. Obsolete. reinforcement (def. 4).
Obsolete. aid.
Origin of supply
1Other words from supply
- sup·pli·er, noun
- un·sup·plied, adjective
- well-sup·plied, adjective
How to use supply in a sentence
It does not pay to rely on a single place for manufacturing operations and supply chain processes.
COVID proves that companies need to reduce their dependence on China | matthewheimer | September 11, 2020 | FortuneToday, Betsy is associate director of facilities at Phillips Academy Andover and Tom works in supply chain management for a Palo Alto consulting firm.
Tom Davis ’84, SM ’85 & Betsy Davis ’84, MArch ’88 | Tate Ryan-Mosley | September 8, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewIts factories churn out more than half the globe’s total vaccine supply and produce more generic drugs than anywhere else.
More than manufacturing: India’s homegrown COVID vaccines could transform its pharma industry | Naomi Xu Elegant | September 6, 2020 | FortuneAdditionally, they must figure out who will receive the vaccine first, ensure that they have enough syringes and other supplies, and set up databases to track who is receiving the vaccine.
What would it actually take to have a COVID-19 vaccine by November? | Kate Baggaley | September 4, 2020 | Popular-ScienceVerma says she joined her group, a citywide grocery and supply delivery effort that attracted more than 500 volunteers, because she had a hunch no government or charity agency was up for the challenge ahead.
Mutual Aid Groups Reckon With the Future: ‘We Don’t Want This to Just Be a Fad’ | Tim Donnelly | September 2, 2020 | Eater
MK Chambers Company Michigan-based supplier of specialty machining.
A plastic factory, a hardware supplier, and shipping–and-receiving giants like Fed-Ex and DHL are neighboring businesses.
House of the Witch: The Renegade Craft Brewers of Panama | Jeff Campagna | November 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFor air supplier Hughes Aircraft, it was crucial satellite pieces from Russia.
The American Ebola Rescue Plan Hinges on One Company. Meet Phoenix. | Abby Haglage | November 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNow, he co-owns Happy Valley Meat Company, a high-quality beef supplier.
And for most of its existence, Tesla has relied on a single supplier for the battery cells: Panasonic.
Ask someone from your power supplier or electric dealer to talk to the club about the different kinds of lamps.
Electricity for the 4-H Scientist | Eric B. WilsonYou know—they ask for one thing, and get the wrong weight, or their supplier is out of material, or something goes wrong.
Bear Trap | Alan Edward NourseTo keep her grasp on her money-supplier she took 232 Elizabeth with her.
Polly in New York | Lillian Elizabeth RoyTo want to be loved means usually to want some one to be a protector, a giver of pleasure, a supplier of wants.
What a Young Woman Ought to Know | Mary Wood-AllenThe price of necessities depended on the conscience of the individual supplier and the ignorance of the people.
A Labrador Doctor | Wilfred Thomason Grenfell
British Dictionary definitions for supply (1 of 2)
/ (səˈplaɪ) /
(tr often foll by with) to furnish with something that is required: to supply the community with good government
(tr; often foll by to or for) to make available or provide (something that is desired or lacking): to supply books to the library
(tr) to provide for adequately; make good; satisfy: who will supply their needs?
to serve as a substitute, usually temporary, in (another's position, etc): there are no clergymen to supply the pulpit
(tr) British to fill (a vacancy, position, etc)
the act of providing or something that is provided
(as modifier): a supply dump
(often plural) an amount available for use; stock
(plural) food, equipment, etc, needed for a campaign or trip
economics
willingness and ability to offer goods and services for sale
the amount of a commodity that producers are willing and able to offer for sale at a specified price: Compare demand (def. 9)
military
the management and disposal of food and equipment
(as modifier): supply routes
(often plural) a grant of money voted by a legislature for government expenses, esp those not covered by other revenues
(in Parliament and similar legislatures) the money voted annually for the expenses of the civil service and armed forces
a person who acts as a temporary substitute
(as modifier): a supply vicar
a source of electrical energy, gas, etc
obsolete aid or assistance
Origin of supply
1Derived forms of supply
- suppliable, adjective
- supplier, noun
British Dictionary definitions for supply (2 of 2)
supplely (ˈsʌpəlɪ)
/ (ˈsʌplɪ) /
in a supple manner
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for supply
The amount of any given commodity available for sale at a given time.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with supply
see in short supply.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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