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 bywith ).

   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

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)

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

Her interior design company has grown beyond the original six clients — to 150 clients internationally that contract her to furnish and stage their homes.

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Special strainers for grating and juicing tomatoes gained a place among kitchen furnishings.

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“I furnished my home in Midcentury Modern,” she said by email.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The AI gold rush, though it has fueled a lot of San Francisco’s revival, hasn’t provided the number of jobs that previous tech booms have furnished.

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He borrowed $145 million to aid the company using his own stock as collateral and furnished fraudulent financial statements to lenders to guarantee the transaction, the plea agreement said.

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Related Words

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