equipment

[ih-kwip-muhnt]

noun

1. anything kept, furnished, or provided for a specific purpose.

   Synonyms: accouterment, paraphernalia, apparatus

2. the act of equipping a person or thing.

3. the state of being equipped.

4. the personal knowledge and skill required for a task, occupation, etc..

   He has the necessary equipment for law.

5. the rolling stock of a railroad.

equipment

/ ɪˈkwɪpmənt /

noun

1. an act or instance of equipping

2. the items so provided

3. a set of tools, devices, kit, etc, assembled for a specific purpose, such as a soldier's kit and weapons

Other Word Forms

• preequipment noun
• reequipment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of equipment¹

First recorded in 1710–20; equip + -ment

Example Sentences

Whatever the situation, equipment must be deployable quickly against fleeting incursions and cost no more than its target.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“It’s been just a big bureaucratic slog,” said Chauncee Smith, of Catalyst California, which is part of a broader coalition of reform advocacy groups pushing for an end to all equipment and moving violation stops.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Air traffic professionals monitor staffing at air traffic facilities, weather conditions, equipment failures and unexpected disruptions to the system.

Read more on Salon

He was pinned down by officers while using gym equipment on a beach and extradited to Scotland to stand trial.

Read more on BBC

Surveying the damaged pumping equipment and a grim lake of sewage at the Sheikh Radwan wastewater plant, Fletcher said the task ahead for the UN and aid agencies was a "massive, massive job".

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• apparatus 
• furnishings 
• furniture 
• machinery 
• material