equip
verb (used with object)
to supply with whatever gear or apparatus is needed for use or for any undertaking; fit out, as a ship or army.
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equip
1 American
[ih-kwip]
/ ɪˈkwɪp /
verb (used with object)
-
equips,
present (3rd person singular)
-
equipped,
past participle, past
-
equipping
present participle
-
to supply with whatever gear or apparatus is needed for use or for any undertaking; fit out, as a ship or army.
They spent several thousand dollars to equip their boat.
-
to provide with intellectual or emotional resources; prepare.
Education and travel have equipped her to deal with all sorts of people.
-
to dress; array.
He equipped himself in all his finery.
equip.
2
American
abbreviation
equip
British
/ ɪˈkwɪp /
verb
-
to furnish with (necessary supplies, etc)
-
(usually passive) to provide with abilities, understanding, etc
her son was never equipped to be a scholar
-
to dress out; attire
Synonym Usage
See furnish.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
equipsimple
-
equipssimple
-
have equippedperfect
-
has equippedperfect
-
am equippingprogressive
-
are equippingprogressive
-
is equippingprogressive
-
have been equippingperfect progressive
-
has been equippingperfect progressive
Past
-
equippedsimple
-
had equippedperfect
-
was equippingprogressive
-
were equippingprogressive
-
had been equippingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of equip
First recorded in 1515–25; from Middle French equiper, Old French esquiper “to fit out, equip,” probably from Old Norse skipa “to put in order, arrange, man (a ship)”
Explanation
To equip means to provide something needed for a particular purpose. If you’re planning a trip to the Arctic, you should equip yourself with warm clothes, tents, and two-way radios. You might want to equip someone with an ice axe for ice climbing and a diving watch for underwater excursions. The ice axe or the diving watch is their equipment. Equip can also be used in a more figurative sense. If you are supposed to write computer programs but have never worked with a computer, you might say that you are not equipped for that. On a really bad day, it might feel like people are not equipped to deal with each other politely.
Vocabulary lists containing equip
Chapter 24: World War I
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President Obama's second inaugural address
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Vocabulary Review, Unit 6
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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:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is moving to equip officers with body cameras in the next two months, but the public should not expect to see footage of every critical incident.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
ICE plans to equip officers nationwide with body-worn cameras by the end of September, following mounting scrutiny over fatal encounters involving federal immigration officers.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
In 1922, Georgia’s governor credited Felton with having “all the qualities of heart and head that equip one for broad and constructive statesmanship.”
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
On Saturday, the MoD said £500m would be allocated to equip the UK's elite Commando Force with new boats and the "latest drone and autonomous technology" as part of the plan.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
Mom’s embellishments and half-truths usually equip her to tell a good story, though.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
“But we can’t facilitate. We can educate. We can navigate. We can equip. We’ve got an entire educational library. July 1 didn’t just get here and go, ‘Okay, you figure this out.’
From Washington Post ● Jul. 22, 2021
Protect the Game is a nonprofit that trains and equips former members of the U.S. military.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Half of the Helios campus is leased to CoreWeave, which equips it, positioning Galaxy to capitalize on AI demand.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
The program equips families with books and technology like mobile hotspots.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2026
"Our results show that MafB functions as a master regulator that gives macrophages their identity and equips them with the capabilities necessary to support organ health," explains immunologist Thomas Marichal.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 1, 2026
At the same time the company equips the experimental farm and puts it into operation under the supervision of a trained agriculturist.
From A Stake in the Land by Peter A. (Peter Alexander) Speek
"Mistakes are going to happen. They're not being equipped to implement the AI properly."
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
In the Johnson’s Beach lodgings, long known for summer-camp vibes, some rooms now come equipped with luxury linens and a French press.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Vans are equipped with technology that notifies subcontractors of unsafe driving behavior.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
During normal times when there is no eclipse, scientists study the Sun's atmosphere with satellites equipped with a coronagraph -- "a filter that blocks out the photosphere", Brun explained.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
The air of “anxious effort” that suffused the park reminded Candace Wheeler, the designer hired to decorate the Woman’s Building, “of an insufficiently equipped household preparing for visitors.”
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Gustavsson says he’s seeking to balance the two, while equipping engineers with the information they need to make decisions on which model to use for certain tasks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, meanwhile, became the first in California to employ the device, equipping two vehicles by mid-2025 and adding another eight vehicles six months later.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
It is expanding its China portfolio of vehicles with different drivetrains and equipping them with China-specific premium infotainment systems and advanced driver-assistance systems.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
He promised a "health and care service that works", an education system "focused on equipping every pupil with essential life skills", and "childcare to ease the pressure on family budgets".
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
When the cost of caring for, feeding, and equipping the animals was added, it became more economical for people living in cities to rent horses from livery stables, much as people rent cars today.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
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.
