prepare
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to put in proper condition or readiness.
to prepare a patient for surgery.
- Antonyms:
- disorganize
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to get (a meal) ready for eating, as by proper assembling, cooking, etc.
-
to manufacture, compound, or compose.
to prepare a cough syrup.
- Synonyms:
- make
-
Music. to lead up to (a discord, an embellishment, etc.) by some preliminary tone or tones.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to make ready or suitable in advance for a particular purpose or for some use, event, etc
to prepare a meal
to prepare to go
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to put together using parts or ingredients; compose or construct
-
(tr) to equip or outfit, as for an expedition
-
(tr) music to soften the impact of (a dissonant note) by the use of preparation
-
(foll by an infinitive) to be willing and able (to do something)
I'm not prepared to reveal these figures
Synonym Usage
Prepare, contrive, devise imply planning for and making ready for something expected or thought possible. To prepare is to make ready beforehand for some approaching event, need, and the like: to prepare a room, a speech. Contrive and devise emphasize the exercise of ingenuity and inventiveness. The first word suggests a shrewdness that borders on trickery, but this is absent from devise : to contrive a means of escape; to devise a time-saving method.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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preparesimple
-
preparessimple
-
have preparedperfect
-
has preparedperfect
-
am preparingprogressive
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are preparingprogressive
-
is preparingprogressive
-
have been preparingperfect progressive
-
has been preparingperfect progressive
Past
-
preparedsimple
-
had preparedperfect
-
was preparingprogressive
-
were preparingprogressive
-
had been preparingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of prepare
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin praeparāre “to make ready beforehand,” equivalent to prae- pre- + parāre “to set, get ready” (akin to parent )
Explanation
To prepare means to get ready for something. When you prepare for a test, you'll get a better score than if you don’t. Look at all the variations that you find with prepare. If you prepare yourself mentally for an experience, you sent you mind on it happening. If you're going to tell your family that you're moving out, you might want to prepare them by having them sit down. Are you prepared for their reaction? Are you prepared to defend your decision? You can prepare wood to be painted by cleaning and sanding it. And if you prepare dinner, you cook it.
Vocabulary lists containing prepare
PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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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:
It comes as parts of the UK prepare for another heatwave, with amber heat health alerts issued for much of eastern England.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
It was held to prepare for future missions in the Black Sea.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
It is time, he tells his students, to prepare to fight for a future that is free from both the British and the Arabs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Financial advisers have long relied on a simple rule of thumb when helping clients prepare for retirement: Plan to replace roughly 70% to 80% of your pre-retirement income.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
Then get into your shelter—you did prepare a shelter, right?
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Tyson Fury was lighter than his opponent at the weigh-in for the first time in 15 years as he prepares to fight Mariusz Wach in Thailand on Friday.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Lionsgate has changed the actor’s hand placement on the poster for “La La Land” as the studio prepares to rerelease the Academy Award-winning musical to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Yet as Polestar prepares to exit from the U.S. market, it may contend with state laws that often require automakers to compensate dealers when they pull up stakes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
“There is no magic formula that can tell us what level of testosterone best prepares someone to serve in the United States military,” Dr. Emile Redwood, a urologist with Physicians for Reproductive Health, told me.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
I almost manage to get through the omelet she prepares without a word.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
“It comes down to, How can they handle this? How are they prepared to handle this?” said Brian Mulberry, who manages a portfolio at Zacks Investment Management that includes Meta stock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
When life gets you down, Danny Palumbo opines, nothing is more soothing than eating a meal prepared with love.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
And he added that the company operates in an industry niche — prepared deli food — that has a combined $40 billion in U.S. sales.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Researchers collected standardized photographs of 102 meals prepared for the diet study.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
Either way, his presence here is something I didn’t expect and am not prepared to handle.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
"Even though this is painful for me, we need to do what is right," he said of charges the country's ombudsman are preparing against former House of Representatives speaker Martin Romualdez.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Much of the overtime money the department spent went instead toward preparing for unrest, monitoring protests and vigils, guarding hotels housing federal agents, and managing the public response to federal violence.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
"That's what I've been training and preparing towards."
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
We visited the firm’s sprawling Florida Lakehouse campus to see how it’s preparing the next generation of accountants as AI changes their industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
The family began preparing to move to a resettlement village on the shore of the future lake.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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.
