furnish

American  

[fur-nish] / ˈfɜr nɪʃ /

verb (used with object)

1. to supply (a house, room, etc.) with necessary furniture, carpets, appliances, etc.

   Synonyms:

   outfit, rig

2. to provide or supply (often followed bywith ).

   The delay furnished me with the time I needed.

   Synonyms:

   outfit, rig

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noun

1. paper pulp and any ingredients added to it prior to its introduction into a papermaking machine.

furnish British  

/ ˈfɜːnɪʃ /

verb

1. to provide (a house, room, etc) with furniture, carpets, etc

2. to equip with what is necessary; fit out

3. to give; supply

   the records furnished the information required

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Related Words

Furnish, appoint, equip all refer to providing something necessary. Furnish emphasizes the idea of providing necessary or customary services or appliances in living quarters: to furnish board; a room meagerly furnished with a bed, desk, and a wooden chair. Appoint, a more formal word now usually used in the past participle appointed, means to furnish completely with all requisites or accessories or in an elegant style: a well-appointed house. Equip means to supply with necessary materials or apparatus for some service, action, or undertaking; it emphasizes preparation: to equip a vessel, a soldier.

Other Word Forms

• furnisher noun
• overfurnish verb (used with object)
• prefurnish verb (used with object)
• refurnish verb (used with object)
• underfurnish verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of furnish

1400–50; late Middle English furnisshen, from Old French furniss-, long stem of furnir “to accomplish, furnish,” from Germanic; compare Old High German frumjan “to provide”

Example Sentences

Sales also were down on furniture, home furnishings, electronics and appliances.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Helms building was chosen because it is a historic Los Angeles destination known for its restaurants and home furnishings businesses, Lehman said.

From Los Angeles Times

He lives in a company-owned apartment full of dark, polished surfaces and bad modern art; she lives in a rundown apartment furnished with termites.

From Los Angeles Times

But they will be able to buy the home turnkey, with pictured furnishings in place—and pay an extra $400,000 for the privilege, the listing noted when it was first posted.

From MarketWatch

Tenements crowded with Jewish immigrants from Russia and Eastern Europe furnished the American toy industry with inventors and entrepreneurs.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• afford
• dispense
• hand over
• provide
• turn over