furnish
Americanverb (used with object)
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furnishes,
present (3rd person singular)
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furnished,
past participle, past
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furnishing
present participle
noun
verb
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to provide (a house, room, etc) with furniture, carpets, etc
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to equip with what is necessary; fit out
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to give; supply
the records furnished the information required
Synonym Usage
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
Derived Forms
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furnishernoun
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overfurnishverb (used with object)
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prefurnishverb (used with object)
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refurnishverb (used with object)
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underfurnishverb (used with object)
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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furnishsimple
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furnishessimple
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have furnishedperfect
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has furnishedperfect
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am furnishingprogressive
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are furnishingprogressive
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is furnishingprogressive
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have been furnishingperfect progressive
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has been furnishingperfect progressive
Past
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furnishedsimple
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had furnishedperfect
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was furnishingprogressive
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were furnishingprogressive
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had been furnishingperfect progressive
Future
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”
Explanation
If you provide something needed, you furnish it. You can furnish an answer to a question in an interview, furnish the snacks at a party, or furnish a room by filling it with couches and chairs. Just as furniture fills a room or a building, to furnish is to fill a need. Another word for furnish is "provide." A furnace furnishes heat (try saying that ten times fast). A job furnishes you with an income. Your parents furnish you with a place to live, furniture included.
Vocabulary lists containing furnish
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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.
See Examples For:
In addition to checking off my goals, I was also heavily encouraged to shop for my bird’s closet, furnish his apartment, and complete the in-app quests.
From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026
I used one in my neighborhood to unload things I couldn’t sell and to furnish the new apartment.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
“People buy homes from one company, finance them through another, furnish them through a third and renovate them with someone else,” Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Marcus Lemonis said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
Alison-Madueke denied it was to furnish a house she was having built in Nigeria, saying most of the items were not for her.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
He would not reveal his present address in the city, and remained uncommunicative concerning any information that he might be able to furnish this office.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
It also furnishes Ukraine’s military with battlefield intelligence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026
It leases units from property owners, furnishes the apartments and then rents the units to tenants and businesses that need long-term housing for their workers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2025
A new study by doctors at LMU University Hospital furnishes answers which could be incorporated into patient treatment.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024
Taking turns tossing and catching the ball furnishes the game with built-in respites, which give the participants a chance to reflect on past choices and prepare for future ones.
From New York Times ● Jul. 18, 2023
Vetch furnishes essential spring forage for bees before the alfalfa is in bloom, tiding them over this early season so that they are ready to pollinate the alfalfa.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Last week, the Indonesian ombudsman's office said an inspection had uncovered a cluster of indulgently furnished apartments inhabited by inmates on the grounds of the Cibinong prison in Bogor, south of the capital.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
My brain furnished the room immediately: C-suite office.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
The information Lyalin furnished helped persuade the British government to move forward with a planned expulsion of 105 Soviet government employees from London, nearly 20% of the bloated Soviet presence in the British capital.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
In Wales, local authorities can charge a council tax premium of up to 300% on furnished second homes that his mother's property had been reassigned as.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Kate and her boys first lived in a “handsomely furnished flat,” but whatever money she had earned in Russia did not last long.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Spending at furniture and home furnishing stores grew 1% from the previous month after falling 1.5% in April.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
Chloe Haynes , 21, was found dead in her room at The Britannia Adelphi Hotel in September 2022 after she was trapped under the heavy furnishing.
From BBC ● May 7, 2026
Buyers historically have spent more than renters on furniture: Owners tend to prioritize quality and cohesion, and often invest in furnishing multiple rooms.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2025
I would tell anybody, “Don’t spend time other than to connect with teammates, work out, study film. Don’t spend time buying houses, furnishing houses, any of that stuff.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2024
This sort of furnishing was what Mr. and Mrs. Clutter liked, as did the majority of their acquaintances, whose homes, by and large, were similarly furnished.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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.
