equipment
Americannoun
-
anything kept, furnished, or provided for a specific purpose.
- Synonyms:
- accouterment, paraphernalia, apparatus
-
the act of equipping a person or thing.
-
the state of being equipped.
-
the personal knowledge and skill required for a task, occupation, etc..
He has the necessary equipment for law.
-
the rolling stock of a railroad.
noun
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an act or instance of equipping
-
the items so provided
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a set of tools, devices, kit, etc, assembled for a specific purpose, such as a soldier's kit and weapons
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of equipment
Explanation
A motherboard and a graphics processor? Duct tape? A circular saw? A solar panel? Depending on what you’re up to, all these things can be considered equipment, which is whatever you need to complete a task. Right away you probably notice that a big chunk of the word equipment is made up of another word, the common verb equip — meaning "to provide someone with the tools they need for a specific task." Add equip to -ment (the suffix of choice when you want to turn a verb into a noun) and voilà! Like magic, the verb changes into a noun, and you end up with equipment: the materials you get when you are equipped to do a particular thing.
Vocabulary lists containing equipment
"Earthquake"
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Scientific Investigation and Reasoning
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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.
Teradyne reported higher second-quarter revenue and profit as the artificial intelligence boom fueled growth in its business providing testing equipment for semiconductors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
He pointed to the proposed Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware Act, which aims to tighten export controls with international partners on critical semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
He pretended the money was for "football equipment, council liabilities, Companies House fees, charity registration costs and business penalties".
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
These approaches can require complicated equipment, precise alignment, angular measurements, or coincidence detection.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
Like responsible scientists, the children extinguished the burner and put their lab equipment away, but they insisted that Penelope have a taste of their mixture before leaving.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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.
