supply

¹ American  

[suh-plahy] / səˈplaɪ /

verb (used with object)

• supplies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• supplied,
  past participle,  past
• supplying
  present participle

1. to furnish or provide (a person, establishment, place, etc.) with what is lacking or requisite.

   to supply someone clothing;

   to supply a community with electricity.

2. to furnish or provide (something wanting or requisite).

   to supply electricity to a community.

3. to make up, compensate for, or satisfy (a deficiency, loss, need, etc.).

   The TVA supplied the need for cheap electricity.

4. to fill or occupy as a substitute, as a vacancy, a pulpit, etc..

   During the summer local clergymen will supply the pulpit.

---

verb (used without object)

• supplies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• supplied,
  past participle,  past
• supplying
  present participle

1. 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?

noun

• supplies
  plural

1. the act of supplying, furnishing, providing, satisfying, etc..

   to begin the supply of household help.

2. something that is supplied.

   The storm cut off our water supply.

3. a quantity of something on hand or available, as for use; a stock or store.

   Did you see our new supply of shirts?

4. Usually supplies a provision, stock, or store of food or other things necessary for maintenance.

   to lay in supplies for the winter.

5. 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.

6. Military. supplies,

   1. all items necessary for the equipment, maintenance, and operation of a military command, including food, clothing, arms, ammunition, fuel, materials, and machinery.

   2. procurement, distribution, maintenance, and salvage of supplies.

7. a person who fills a vacancy or takes the place of another, especially temporarily.

8. Obsolete. supplies. reinforcement.

9. Obsolete. aid.

supply ² American  

[suhp-lee] / ˈsʌp li /

adverb

1. in a supple manner or way; supplely.

---

supply ¹ British  

/ səˈplaɪ /

verb

1. to furnish with something that is required

   to supply the community with good government

2. (tr; often foll by to or for) to make available or provide (something that is desired or lacking)

   to supply books to the library

3. (tr) to provide for adequately; make good; satisfy

   who will supply their needs?

4. to serve as a substitute, usually temporary, in (another's position, etc)

   there are no clergymen to supply the pulpit

5. (tr) to fill (a vacancy, position, etc)

---

noun

1. 1. the act of providing or something that is provided

   2. ( as modifier )

      a supply dump

2. (often plural) an amount available for use; stock

3. (plural) food, equipment, etc, needed for a campaign or trip

4. economics

   1. willingness and ability to offer goods and services for sale

   2. the amount of a commodity that producers are willing and able to offer for sale at a specified price Compare demand

5. military

   1. the management and disposal of food and equipment

   2. ( as modifier )

      supply routes

6. (often plural) a grant of money voted by a legislature for government expenses, esp those not covered by other revenues

7. (in Parliament and similar legislatures) the money voted annually for the expenses of the civil service and armed forces

8. 1. a person who acts as a temporary substitute

   2. ( as modifier )

      a supply vicar

9. a source of electrical energy, gas, etc

10. obsolete aid or assistance

supply ² British  

/ ˈsʌplɪ, ˈsʌpəlɪ /

adverb

1. in a supple manner

---

supply Cultural  

1. The amount of any given commodity available for sale at a given time.

---

supply Idioms  

1. see in short supply.

---

Usage

What is a basic definition of supply? The word supply is used as a verb to mean to provide something. As a noun, supply refers to a stockpile or quantity of something. Supply has several other senses as a verb or a noun. As a verb, supply means to give something. You might supply something in response to a request for that item, as when a clothing factory supplies a department store with new clothes in return for money. You might supply something that satisfies a need, as when plants supply us with oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis. Or you might supply something in order to make up for a deficiency, as when a food pantry supplies food for hungry people.

• Real-life examples: A hydroelectric dam can supply a city with electricity. Soup kitchens supply impoverished people with food. Nature often supplies water and sunlight to plants.
• Used in a sentence: The teacher supplied pencils and paper to the students.

As a noun, supply means an amount of something that has been stored up or stockpiled. For example, almost everyone keeps a supply of food in their house. The plural of supply is supplies and is used when more than one type of thing is being stored.

• Real-life examples: Hospitals keep a supply of blood to use for emergencies. It is a good idea to keep an ample supply of toilet paper so you never run out. Soldiers are often given a lot of supplies to carry with them in case of problems.
• Used in a sentence: The grocery story was running low on its supply of milk.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• supplier
  noun
• suppliable
  adjective
• unsupplied
  adjective
• well-supplied
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• supplies
  plural

Participles

• supplying
  present
• supplied
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• supply
  simple
• supplies
  simple
• have supplied
  perfect
• has supplied
  perfect
• am supplying
  progressive
• are supplying
  progressive
• is supplying
  progressive
• have been supplying
  perfect progressive
• has been supplying
  perfect progressive

Past

• supplied
  simple
• had supplied
  perfect
• was supplying
  progressive
• were supplying
  progressive
• had been supplying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will supply
  simple
• will have supplied
  perfect
• will be supplying
  progressive
• will have been supplying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of supply¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English verb sup(p)lien “to fill up, complete,” from Middle French souplier, soupleer, ultimately from Latin supplēre “to fill up” (equivalent to sup- prefix + plēre “to fill”); noun derivative of the verb; see sup- full ¹

Origin of supply²

First recorded in 1525–35; supple + -ly

Explanation

To supply the definition of a word is to provide that definition. That's supply used as a verb. If you're talking about the noun, however, then the supply is the thing itself. People who think the world is coming to an end generally like to keep a supply of fresh water on hand. Though, if the world did come to an end, you wouldn't need to supply water to anyone, would you? That's a case of supplying a supply. If there is a big enough demand for ping-pong balls, a person could get rich, if they controlled the supply. Having to supply all those balls could be exhausting, though.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

supply supplies supplied supplying

There is no input from the economic data side, nor from any supply.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

This is partly because it doesn’t have its own blood supply.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is circulating photos of 27 people seen earlier this month at the auto supply business at Atlantic and Olympic boulevards.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

In a report from February, council officials said there was a "shortfall" in the supply of "suitable and deliverable Gypsy and traveller sites" in Basildon.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

There’s a huge stable, a blacksmith, a general and feed supply store.

From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Headquartered in Mulfingen, Germany, Ebm-Papst supplies high-performance airflow technologies, as well as integrated electronically commutated fan and motor systems, according to Madison Air.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

"We are doing everything we can to try and recharge the levels in the storage tank that feeds the area to try and make sure we can restore supplies as soon as possible," it said.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

He made an appeal to the government to bring medical supplies and other aid as quickly as possible.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

That’s mainly because global refining capacity for finished fuels is severely constrained by geopolitical conflicts and facility disruptions, even as crude supplies remain relatively stable.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026

“Whoever this someone was, he or she had the means to provide blankets, art supplies, and now and then a meal that did not have to be caught and devoured raw,” she thought.

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

Burnham promised to convene a summit with fire services, acknowledging the government had not supplied enough resources to deal with wildfires.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

Under an international collaboration agreement, ESA supplied the telescope's launch service using the Ariane 5 launch vehicle.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

Based on the investigation, health officials concluded that the contaminated jalapeños were imported from the Sinaloa grower to Coast Citrus Distributors, which is based in San Diego and supplied the restaurants.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

The jalapeno recall came after Coast Citrus Distributors, which supplied the company with its peppers, recalled its own fresh jalapeno because of the salmonella concerns.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

By the time he got back to the kitchen, Aunt Marge had been supplied with tea and fruitcake, and Ripper was lapping noisily in the corner.

From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling

If this thesis is right, the obvious beneficiaries are the companies collecting recurring revenue from AI workloads rather than simply supplying the hardware.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

Many note that earnings growth remains heavily concentrated in energy and AI stocks, particularly skyrocketing profits at memory companies supplying the AI build-out.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

Ukraine is one of the world's largest producers of grain and oilseeds, supplying around 6% of global wheat exports before Russia's full-scale invasion and 10% of corn exports.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

If Vought is supplying the ideological vision, Mark Paoletta is supplying the legal architecture to carry it out.

From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026

V/e even used the state’s eavesdropping to our advantage by supplying them with disinformation.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Related Words

• afford
• cater
• contribute
• deliver
• equip
• feed
• fill
• find
• grant
• hand over
• produce
• store
• transfer
• turn over
• yield