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
When cities started adding chlorine to their water supplies, in the early 1900s, it set off public outcry.
Her business started in a suitcase, where she kept her supplies.
A Michigan-based company that supplies fasteners to the hardware store, home center, and industrial markets.
She was detained after rebels found photos on her tablet computer showing supplies she gave to Ukrainian fighters.
The Corrupt Cops of Rebel-Held East Ukraine | Kristina Jovanovski | December 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTManufacturing merchandise, publicity (a radio ad in SF, Facebook ads, venue specific advertising), supplies, shipping.
This vessel, loaded with supplies, went ashore and was lost; and one hundred and twenty Japanese and three Dutchmen were drowned.
Napoleon himself arrived at Wrzburg on October 2nd, and found his army concentrated, but deficient of supplies.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonThis would be very useful and convenient for sending supplies thence to Terrenate, during the whole year.
About the same time it was discovered that the boats had neither oars, nor rudders, nor supplies of food.
The Red Year | Louis TracyAll were badly and insufficiently fed, as much from disorganized commissariat arrangements as from actual want of supplies.
The Philippine Islands | John Foreman
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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