furnish

[ fur-nish ]

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 by with ):

   The delay furnished me with the time I needed.

   Synonyms: outfit, rig

noun

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

furnish

/ 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

Derived Forms

• ˈfurnisher, noun

Other Words From

• furnish·er noun
• over·furnish verb (used with object)
• pre·furnish verb (used with object)
• re·furnish verb (used with object)
• under·furnish verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of furnish¹

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of furnish¹

C15: from Old French fournir , of Germanic origin; related to Old High German frummen to carry out

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

One seemed particularly promising, by a trail with a big pile of natural brush to furnish a screen.

From The Daily Beast

To help furnish the whole department with body cams, go here.

From The Daily Beast

Having created a picture of Hell, the Tea Party priesthood must furnish the faithful with an image of Paradise.

From The Daily Beast

When he returned, Doug said, they would furnish it together.

From The Daily Beast

Husks of homes, some of them choked in jungular vines, furnish a tropical Pompeii for viewers on the disaster bus tours.

From The Daily Beast

Quantitative estimation does not furnish much of definite clinical value.

From Project Gutenberg

Probably his Private Secretary, considering you a new man, will have failed to furnish the necessary information.

From Project Gutenberg

Another fence: who would furnish that two hundred and fifty dollars and secure him for the remainder?

From Project Gutenberg

There are many cases like this in which one's common sense fails to furnish a correct, yet needful guide.

From Project Gutenberg

Nor is this the full extent of their misfortunes; for they are required to furnish an account of them besides.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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