purvey
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to sell or provide (commodities, esp foodstuffs) on a large scale
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to publish or make available (lies, scandal, etc)
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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purveysimple
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purveyssimple
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have purveyedperfect
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has purveyedperfect
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am purveyingprogressive
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are purveyingprogressive
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is purveyingprogressive
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have been purveyingperfect progressive
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has been purveyingperfect progressive
Past
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purveyedsimple
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had purveyedperfect
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was purveyingprogressive
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were purveyingprogressive
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had been purveyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of purvey
1250–1300; Middle English purveien < Anglo-French purveier < Latin prōvidēre to foresee, provide for. See provide
Explanation
Use the verb purvey to describe the activities of businesses that supply things like food, like the bakery that purveys the best bread in the city. Purvey, which rhymes with survey, is something that a restaurant or store does: offer us food or supplies that we pay for, like the airport shop that purveys books, magazines and other things that travelers need for their flights. A second meaning refers to spreading an idea — like gossip — usually to a large audience, like when someone purveys embarrassing details about your dating life. Ouch.
Vocabulary lists containing purvey
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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:
Carol ends up at a ramshackle New Mexican community of fellow-sufferers, who purvey the mantra of self-love.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 4, 2019
But the question is in the execution of these new plots, and specifically how ardently this spinoff will purvey a skewed image of justice’s inner workings, as is the tendency of Wolf’s other work.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2018
Much of its appeal lies in the contrast between the ostensibly stodgy actors and the outlandish tales they purvey.
From New York Times ● Oct. 15, 2015
The former are treated very well, because they purvey the ideas and analysis that fuel the think tank’s operations.
From Slate ● Mar. 7, 2012
I is silent in fruit, suit, recruit, bruise, cruise, heifer, surfeit, forfeit, counterfeit, Madeira, and y in they, prey, whey, obey, heyday, convey, survey, purvey.
From Guide to the Kindergarten and Intermediate Class and Moral Culture of Infancy. by Mann, Mary E.
There’s Remnant Brewing, a taproom by night and coffeehouse by day, a vegetarian takeout eatery called Saus, and Hot Box, which purveys North Shore roast beef sandwiches, a regional specialty.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2022
Some will love the airy cringe that White purveys here, which intensifies as this series goes deeper into its run.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2021
More damningly, his column purveys the prejudices of the people who bankroll Broadway shows.
From Slate ● Nov. 3, 2015
Dropping a story that purveys largely true information is indeed something that needs explaining after all.
From Forbes ● Jun. 30, 2013
Hence the judicious artist purveys for his palette at least two pigments of each colour, one eminent for delicate beauty, the other for richness and depth.
From Field's Chromatography or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists by Salter, Thomas
Recognizability was never an issue for a clutch of business leaders who died this year, at least in terms of the products they purveyed.
From New York Times ● Dec. 29, 2022
That’s the image purveyed by “Unprecedented,” Alex Holder’s three-hour documentary that premiered on Discovery Plus on Sunday.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 12, 2022
The references range from Robert Flaherty’s genre-defining “Nanook of the North” to a nostalgia-tinged rock doc to the contemporary quick-cut, split-screen, graphics-happy, globe-trotting hipster journalism purveyed by Vice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2021
“It should not be construed as an endorsement of the ideas or narrative purveyed, nor of the personal conduct of the author.”
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 27, 2021
Also in like manner he purveyed yearly for his soldiers a livery of red and white; and equipments sufficient for any naked man that was able to do the king and regent service.
From The Boke of Noblesse by Unknown
He’s always taken an opposing approach from Maron, purveying raunch instead of raw honesty, channeling swagger, shock and dismissiveness as opposed to connection and intimacy.
From Salon ● Jun. 4, 2025
“Gaslight” is a hopeless old melodrama purveying woman-as-victim tropes.
From New York Times ● Aug. 4, 2022
Berman’s death provides us with an opportunity to review the FDA’s campaign against clinics purveying bogus stem cell treatments.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2022
Researchers find it difficult to track how many men have donated semen, how many children have resulted from each individual’s donation, and how much money is spent on procuring and purveying sperm.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 12, 2019
It is not in this direction that we must look for any improvement that is needed in the purveying of material for the stage.
From The Drama by Irving, Henry Brodribb
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.
