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
Those who don’t furnish one to register are supposed to present one when they vote for the first time in a federal election, though this requirement isn’t strictly enforced.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
The conference would furnish important connections for the ANC and be the first and best chance for us to enlist support, money, and training for MK.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
A mother’s silence furnishes the book with a powerful second theme.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The dating test furnishes a neat illustration: three profiles—identical in every respect except astrological sign, all showing the same picture of a young man named “Michael”—were created on a popular Chinese dating app.
From Slate ● May 5, 2026
Having been pent up for so long, friendless and homesick, they go wild in the safety of Luna’s generic apartment, which scenic designer Tanya Orellana furnishes with makeshift graduate school touches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 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
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
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
The courtly federal judge John Minor Wisdom of New Orleans, a champion of Deep South desegregation, furnished a model in judicious temperament.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
The room in which he lay was small and neat, furnished with a bureau, a table, a bed, and a few chairs.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
The furniture retailer missed first-quarter earnings estimates, though CEO Niraj Shah asserted the company had outperformed the broader home furnishing category amid “a choppy start to the year.”
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
But rather than spending tens of thousands furnishing and designing her space herself, she came across emerging interior designer Kiki Tolles through her TikTok algorithm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026
High-end furnishing retailer RH, for example, has a small hotel in New York where guests can try out the company’s products in rooms starting at $2,200 a night.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025
He shared a video of a high school which he said had been deteriorating rapidly, saying the meme-coin would help support its "rebuilding and furnishing" and give "students a chance for a better future".
From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2025
Shan asked Ifemelu, with a sweep of her hand, taking in the dramatic furnishing: a red rug, a blue sofa, an orange sofa, a green armchair.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
