ready
Americanadjective
-
completely prepared or in fit condition for immediate action or use.
troops ready for battle;
Dinner is ready.
- Antonyms:
- unfit
-
duly equipped, completed, adjusted, or arranged, as for an occasion or purpose.
The mechanic called to say that the car is ready.
-
willing.
ready to forgive.
- Antonyms:
- unwilling
-
prompt or quick in perceiving, comprehending, speaking, writing, etc.
-
proceeding from or showing such quickness.
a ready reply.
-
prompt or quick in action, performance, manifestation, etc..
a keen mind and ready wit.
-
inclined; disposed; apt.
too ready to criticize others.
-
in such a condition as to be imminent; likely at any moment.
a tree ready to fall.
-
immediately available for use.
a ready source of cash.
-
pertaining to prompt payment.
-
present or convenient.
to lie ready to one's hand.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
the state or condition of being ready.
-
Informal. ready money; cash.
interjection
idioms
-
make ready,
-
to bring to a state of readiness or completion; prepare.
-
Printing. to ready a press for printing.
-
-
ready up, to swindle.
-
get ready! (in calling the start of a race) be prepared to start.
Get ready! Get set! Go!
-
at the ready, in a condition of readiness, available for immediate use.
shoppers with their umbrellas at the ready;
soldiers keeping their weapons at the ready.
adjective
-
in a state of completion or preparedness, as for use or action
-
willing or eager
ready helpers
-
prompt or rapid
a ready response
-
(prenominal) quick in perceiving; intelligent
a ready mind
-
on the point (of) or liable (to)
ready to collapse
-
(postpositive) conveniently near (esp in the phrase ready to hand )
-
to prepare oneself or something for use or action
noun
-
informal short for ready money
-
-
poised for use or action
with pen at the ready
-
(of a rifle) in the position normally adopted immediately prior to aiming and firing
-
verb
Commonly Confused
See already.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ready
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English redy, early Middle English rædig, equivalent to Old English rǣde “prompt” + -ig -y 1
Explanation
If you're ready for something, you're prepared — you're all set to do it. You're not truly ready for bed until you're wearing pajamas and have finished brushing your teeth. You can be physically ready, like when you grab a towel and sunblock to get ready for a day at the beach, or mentally ready, like when you're ready to rock your algebra test since you studied so much. Other things are ready when they're available, like dinner or a hotel room. If you ready something (or yourself), you prepare for some specific purpose. The Old English ræde meant "prepare a horse for riding," from a root meaning "ride."
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:
Bluvstein said he expects Oratomic’s computer to be ready by 2030.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
And at every turn, he said, ‘Whatever you guys need … anytime you want me to pitch, I’ll be ready.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Seven hundred tonnes are kept in this building alone, ready to be turned into crisps.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
TCIP3 is not yet ready for use in people.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
I did not feel ready yet for laughter and social chatter.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Melody Butiu, who plays the Siegels’ Filipina nanny and indispensable factotum, has a readier place in our hearts for all that she has had to sacrifice to support her distant family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2025
Depending on the expertise and equipment at a given location, however, many patients in Germany currently have readier access to CSF analysis than to amyloid PET.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024
For instance, clinical malaria is known to exhaust T cells, he says, and vaccination, by preventing infection, might therefore leave T cells readier to combat other pathogens.
From Science Magazine ● Oct. 23, 2023
I feel I’m much readier for it this time.
From New York Times ● Jan. 13, 2023
The antelope were more wary, the birds readier to take flight.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Moore might not just be the best high school quarterback in the nation but also the readiest for the college game.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
Reid has been with the Seahawks the longest, playing in the final preseason game, and Carroll said he is the readiest to contribute as a result.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 10, 2021
The readiest way to make sense of him—and to hold at arm's length the pathology that overshadowed and overpowered and informed his genius—is to approach him as some kind of martyr.
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2013
Our dialects are often the weapon readiest to hand in that fight.
From Slate ● Aug. 22, 2012
His first proposition and request, that the dance begun at Mr. Cole’s should be finished there—that the same party should be collected, and the same musician engaged, met with the readiest acquiescence.
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
Officials and supporters had readied talking points to accompany the definition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
With that cleared up, Parton readied her rhinestone mic-drop: “I just know if I have to pee, I’m gon’ pee.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
The horses will be taken in trailers to a corral in Modoc National Forest, where they’ll be readied for adoption.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
Behind the scenes, Nasdaq has readied a cozy stable for unicorns to go public on its exchange rather than the NYSE.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
The Head Peacekeeper says the president himself has ordered part of his mansion readied to receive citizens tomorrow.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
“That everlasting Origin,” Charles Darwin complained in 1868 as he was readying yet another version of “On the Origin of Species,” first published in 1859.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
My arms are extended at my sides and I’m leaning forward slightly — not unlike a 3-year-old pretending to be an airplane readying for takeoff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
The president's latest order arrives just as children across the country are readying to return to school, and as the US suffers its worst measles outbreak in 35 years.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
He also encouraged landowners and land managers to take precautionary measures including the readying of specialist fire equipment.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Up ahead, the plesiosaur riders were probably readying their artillery, or simply loading their muskets to enfilade them as soon as they were in range.
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
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.
