equipment
Americannoun
-
anything kept, furnished, or provided for a specific purpose.
- Synonyms:
- accouterment, paraphernalia, apparatus
-
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
-
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
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.
Getting cameras in was challenging just on a logistical level; every single piece of equipment had to be recorded on an inventory list and checked both going in and going out.
From Slate • May 27, 2026
Samantha Tolmie has given up eating hot meals in order to pay for the vital equipment keeping her son alive - and she is not alone.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
The initial restart was ahead of schedule, but months of inactivity allowed water to accumulate in parts of the mine, wetting the ore and necessitating new loading equipment.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026
Mixue, for example, has historically generated substantial revenue not only from franchise fees but also from selling ingredients and equipment to franchise operators.
From Barron's • May 26, 2026
Had the smoke from the wildfire somehow messed up the plane’s equipment and made it impossible for the pilot to see?
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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.
