supply Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an amount of something available for use
  2. noun offering goods and services for sale
  3. noun the activity of supplying or providing something
    provision; supplying.
  4. verb give something useful or necessary to
    provide; furnish; render.
    • We provided the room with an electrical heater
  5. verb circulate or distribute or equip with
    issue.
    • issue a new uniform to the children
    • supply blankets for the beds
  6. verb give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance
    provide; cater; ply.
    • The hostess provided lunch for all the guests
  7. verb state or say further
    add; append.
    • `It doesn't matter,' he supplied

WordNet

Sup*ply" transitive verb
Etymology
For older supploy, F. suppléer, OF. also supployer, (assumed) LL. suppletare, from L. supplere, suppletum; sub under + plere to fill, akin to plenus full. See Plenty.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Supplied ; present participle & verbal noun Supplying
Definitions
  1. To fill up, or keep full; to furnish with what is wanted; to afford, or furnish with, a sufficiency; as, rivers are supplied by smaller streams; an aqueduct supplies an artificial lake; -- often followed by with before the thing furnished; as, to supply a furnace with fuel; to supply soldiers with ammunition.
  2. To serve instead of; to take the place of.
    Burning ships the banished sun supply. Waller.
    The sun was set, and Vesper, to supply His absent beams, had lighted up the sky. Dryden.
  3. To fill temporarily; to serve as substitute for another in, as a vacant place or office; to occupy; to have possession of; as, to supply a pulpit.
  4. To give; to bring or furnish; to provide; as, to supply money for the war. Prior. Syn. -- To furnish; provide; administer; minister; contribute; yield; accommodate.
Sup*ply" noun
Wordforms
plural Supplies
Definitions
  1. The act of supplying; supplial. A. Tucker.
  2. That which supplies a want; sufficiency of things for use or want. Specifically: -- (a) Auxiliary troops or reënforcements. "My promised supply of horsemen." Shak. (b) The food, and the like, which meets the daily necessities of an army or other large body of men; store; -- used chiefly in the plural; as, the army was discontented for lack of supplies. (c) An amount of money provided, as by Parliament or Congress, to meet the annual national expenditures; generally in the plural; as, to vote supplies. (d) A person who fills a place for a time; one who supplies the place of another; a substitute; esp., a clergyman who supplies a vacant pulpit.
Sup*ply" adjective
Definitions
  1. Serving to contain, deliver, or regulate a supply of anything; as, a supply tank or valve.

Webster 1913