purvey

American  

[per-vay] / pərˈveɪ /

verb (used with object)

• purveys,
  present (3rd person singular)
• purveyed,
  past participle,  past
• purveying
  present participle

1. to provide, furnish, or supply (especially food or provisions) usually as a business or service.

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purvey British  

verb

1. to sell or provide (commodities, esp foodstuffs) on a large scale

2. to publish or make available (lies, scandal, etc)

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noun

1. the food and drink laid on at a wedding reception, etc

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• purveying
  present
• purveyed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• purvey
  simple
• purveys
  simple
• have purveyed
  perfect
• has purveyed
  perfect
• am purveying
  progressive
• are purveying
  progressive
• is purveying
  progressive
• have been purveying
  perfect progressive
• has been purveying
  perfect progressive

Past

• purveyed
  simple
• had purveyed
  perfect
• was purveying
  progressive
• were purveying
  progressive
• had been purveying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will purvey
  simple
• will have purveyed
  perfect
• will be purveying
  progressive
• will have been purveying
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of purvey

1250–1300; Middle English purveien < Anglo-French purveier < Latin prōvidēre to foresee, provide for. See provide

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

purvey purveys purveyed purveying

Many of us thought that making blue verification checkmarks available for purchase would lead to an impersonation free-for-all and severely degrade Twitter’s ability to purvey good information.

From Slate ● Feb. 6, 2023

If it’s egregious for politicians and celebrities to purvey misinformation, it’s far worse when the lie peddler is a physician.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 12, 2022

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

Rather, I think that the very notion of the children’s movie is, too often, a coup of marketing that comes disguised in the very virtues that the movies purvey.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 6, 2017

Meantime, what became of the unfortunate women who had no kind companion to purvey for them blankets and pillows from the mephitic sleeping-car, and cups of hot tea from unknown sources, Miselle cannot conjecture.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 90, April, 1865 by Various

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

It gave rise to what I call “sorta know” journalism – that is, journalism which purveys rumor and gossip because you “sorta know” it’s true, even if the reporter hasn’t adequately sourced it.

From Salon ● Apr. 5, 2016

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

This is the period during which he becomes a willing, almost eager, mark for the decayed sport who purveys bad champagne and vends his own brand of noxious cigarettes.

From The "Goldfish" by Arthur Cheney Train

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

On Saturday morning in the “Merchants’s Room,” Cho was signing copies of this and his other work, while numerous dealers purveyed their wares.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 26, 2022

That’s because unalloyed optimism, which is what’s generally purveyed by corporate executives, is unhealthy for capitalism, just as living on a diet exclusively of Twinkies would be for you or me.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2022

“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

He purveyed him an hondreth men, Well harnessed in that stede, And hym selfe in that same sete, And clothed in whyte and rede.

From Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws Popular Ballads of the Olden Times - Fourth Series by Frank Sidgwick

This is in keeping with Fellowes’ penchant for purveying a fantasy of class relationships foregrounded by unforced comity and respect.

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2025

“Gaslight” is a hopeless old melodrama purveying woman-as-victim tropes.

From New York Times ● Aug. 4, 2022

“Make no mistake about it. The people who are purveying these guns and trafficking are doing it for one reason: the almighty buck,” Moore said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2021

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

A few days later the pages of writers purveying the prevalent "Infidelity, Scurrility, and Indecency" are ingeniously allotted to various uses.

From Henry Fielding: a Memoir by G. M. Godden

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Related Words

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