procurement

American  

[proh-kyoor-muhnt, pruh‑] / proʊˈkyʊər mənt, prə‑ /

noun

1. the act of procuring, or obtaining or getting by effort, care, or the use of special means.

   The organ procurement procedure is very complicated.

2. the act of obtaining equipment, materials, or supplies.

   The secretary of defense argued in favor of increasing the budget for procurement.

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procurement British  

/ prəˈkjʊəmənt /

noun

1. the act or an instance of procuring

2. commerce

   1. the act of buying

   2. ( as modifier )

      procurement cost

      procurement budget

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Usage

What does procurement mean? Procurement most commonly refers to the formal, official process of purchasing and obtaining materials, supplies, or equipment, especially in the context of business or government. Many large companies and government agencies have a procurement department that handles the ordering and acquisition of supplies. Such a department is often simply referred to as procurement, as in You’ll have to ask procurement to order those materials. Procurement is the noun form of the verb procure. In general, procurement means the act of getting something, especially through special means or extra effort, as in The procurement of transplant organs is a complex process. Example: If someone says they work in procurement, it means they spend a lot of time navigating the supply chain to get what their company needs.

Other Word Forms

• nonprocurement noun
• self-procurement noun

Etymology

Origin of procurement

First recorded in 1300–50; procure ( def. ) + -ment ( def. )

Explanation

Procurement is the act of getting something you need. Save it for when you need to sound serious, like if you're in the military. Procurement is the noun form of the verb procure which means "to acquire," but procurement often has military connotations, such as: "The procurement of the weapons for the war is vital." It also means acquiring something that was extra hard to get, and you can use it when you want to sound formal: "I will work on the procurement of some more lemonade for all of us." Sound extra fancy by quoting the British poet John Dryden from way back in 1717: "They think it done/ By her procurement."

Example Sentences

That cost asymmetry — cheap offense, expensive defense — is what restructured the global counterdrone procurement map almost overnight.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026

“This is the first time I’ve seen a substantial nonwarship procurement in one big budget,” said Brent Sadler, a maritime specialist at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

Though touched on throughout “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the horrifying connection between status and the systematic procurement of women is the sinister force that drives “The Testaments.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

Many in Bangladesh have blamed the vaccine shortages on the former interim government, which oversaw a new vaccine procurement system.

From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026

This led to the first major procurement crisis of Groves’s tenure.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Related Words

• acquisition