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:
"To enable CAR T cells to detect and eliminate the disease-causing cells, we equip patients' own immune cells with a receptor that acts like a search sensor for CD19."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
"We need clear information in order to equip people from a public health point of view to be able to make informed choices and informed decisions," she added.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
That’s because auto makers equip new models with ultra-low drag tires to meet fuel economy and emission standards in labs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
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
The man took my grandfather to the store to buy him some warm clothes to wear until he could properly equip himself for the winter.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
“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
The problem is simple: The models are being built faster than the science that equips us to understand their internal workings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 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
Trading in his 2018 Model 3 meant he and his wife no longer had to fight over FSD, which they had equipped only on their 2023 Tesla.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
Several said they had been made to sign contracts that they did not understand, were poorly equipped and found communication with their superiors difficult due to the language barrier.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
According to the charge sheet, the defendants helped to launch "a small boat of poor quality, unfit to navigate at sea, overloaded and equipped with inadequate life-jackets".
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Inside, they were warned that security guards equipped with night-vision goggles would be watching for anyone who managed to keep a phone accessible.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
Thus equipped, she’d begun her classes: Figure Drawing I, Light and Color I, Survey of Art I, Introduction to Critical Studies, and—with the most excitement—Introduction to Photography, taught by the renowned Pauline Hawthorne.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Generative A.I. certainly has the potential to worsen pandemic conspiracy theories by equipping them with highly convincing fabricated evidence.
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026
By relaxing restrictions on arms exports, Japan hopes to revitalize its small defense industry and play a bigger role in regional security by equipping countries such as Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 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
Australia's army is in the throes of a major transformation, equipping itself with long-range firepower, drones and other modern combat tools.
From Barron's ● Apr. 13, 2026
Men were drilled in preparing their planes for impact and equipping themselves for postcrash survival.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
