purvey
Americanverb (used with object)
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purveys,
present (3rd person singular)
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purveyed,
past participle, past
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purveying
present participle
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
-
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:
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
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
The reading public has been gorged and surfeited with war literature, a fact which has been only too painfully realized by publishers and editors, who purvey for its appetite and have overstocked the larder.
From Lessons of the war with Spain and other articles by A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan
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
The tale does not record his conversations with Guenevere: for Jurgen now discoursed plain idiocy, as one purveys sweetmeats to a child in fond astonishment at the pet's appetite.
From Jurgen A Comedy of Justice by James Branch Cabell
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
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
It’s a fallacy to think that classical music can only be purveyed in the way it’s most familiar: the established concert-hall format.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 12, 2018
Such a delicacy cost a whole quarter, the most expensive treat that the soda fountain purveyed.
From A Son of the City A Story of Boy Life by Herman Gastrell Seely
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
We’ve been pointing the finger at Mercola since as long ago as 2012; he’s been repeatedly cited by the Food and Drug Administration for purveying unsupported medical treatments to his followers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 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
Pointing to slides that displayed YouTube videos purveying conspiracies about the moon landing and chemtrails, Wojcicki said the company will begin displaying “information cues” drawn from Wikipedia alongside such clips.
From Slate ● Mar. 14, 2018
Though it persist unchanged in its rôle of purveying misinformation and absurdity to the Public, he should know it for himself a blessed dispensation.
From Adventures in the Arts Informal Chapters on Painters, Vaudeville, and Poets by Marsden Hartley
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.
