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Webster 1913 Edition

Supply

Sup-ply′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Supplied
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Supplying
.]
[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
.]
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.
;
pl.
Supplies
.
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 reenforcements.
“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.
Stated supply
(Eccl.)
,
a clergyman employed to supply a pulpit for a definite time, but not settled as a pastor.
[U.S.]
–
Supply and demand
.
(Polit. Econ.)
“Demand means the quantity of a given article which would be taken at a given price. Supply means the quantity of that article which could be had at that price.”
F. A. Walker.

Sup-ply′

,
Adj.
Serving to contain, deliver, or regulate a supply of anything;
as, a
supply
tank or valve
.
Supply system
(Zool.)
,
the system of tubes and canals in sponges by means of which food and water are absorbed. See Illust. of
Spongiae
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Supply

SUPPLY'

,
Verb.
T.
[L. suppleo; sub and pleo, disused, to fill.]
1.
To fill up, as any deficiency happens; to furnish what is wanted; to afford or furnish a sufficiency; as, to supply the poor with bread and clothing; to supply the daily wants of nature; to supply the navy with masts and spars; to supply the treasury with money. The city is well supplied with water.
I wanted nothing fortune could supply.
2.
To serve instead of.
Burning ships the banish'd sun supply.
3.
To give; to bring or furnish.
Nearer care supplies
Signs to my breast, and sorrow to my eyes.
4.
To fill vacant room.
The sun was set, and Vesper to supply
His absent beams, had lighted up the sky.
5.
To fill; as, to supply a vacancy.
6.
In general, to furnish; to give or afford what is wanted.
Modern infidelity supplies no such motives.

SUPPLY'

,
Noun.
Sufficiency for wants given or furnished. The poor have a daily supply of food; the army has ample supplies of provisions and munitions of war. Customs, taxes and excise constitute the supplies of revenue.

Definition 2024

supply

supply

English

Verb

supply ‎(third-person singular simple present supplies, present participle supplying, simple past and past participle supplied)

  1. (transitive) To provide (something), to make (something) available for use.
    to supply money for the war
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Prior to this entry?)
  2. (transitive) To furnish or equip with.
    to supply a furnace with fuel; to supply soldiers with ammunition
  3. (transitive) To fill up, or keep full.
    Rivers are supplied by smaller streams.
  4. (transitive) To compensate for, or make up a deficiency of.
    • 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque:
      It was objected against him that he had never experienced love. Whereupon he arose, left the society, and made it a point not to return to it until he considered that he had supplied the defect.
  5. (transitive) To serve instead of; to take the place of.
    • Waller
      Burning ships the banished sun supply.
    • Dryden
      The sun was set, and Vesper, to supply / His absent beams, had lighted up the sky.
  6. (intransitive) To act as a substitute.
  7. (transitive) To fill temporarily; to serve as substitute for another in, as a vacant place or office; to occupy; to have possession of.
    to supply a pulpit
Translations
Derived terms
Related terms

Noun

supply ‎(countable and uncountable, plural supplies)

  1. (uncountable) The act of supplying.
    supply and demand
  2. (countable) An amount of something supplied.
    A supply of good drinking water is essential.
  3. (in the plural) provisions.
  4. (chiefly in the plural) An amount of money provided, as by Parliament or Congress, to meet the annual national expenditures.
    to vote supplies
  5. Somebody, such as a teacher or clergyman, who temporarily fills the place of another; a substitute.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

supple +‎ -ly

Alternative forms

Adverb

supply ‎(comparative more supply, superlative most supply)

  1. Supplely: in a supple manner, with suppleness.
    • 1906, Ford Madox Ford, The fifth queen: and how she came to court, page 68:
      His voice was playful and full; his back was bent supply.
    • 1938, David Leslie Murray, Commander of the mists:
      […] the rain struck on her head as she bent supply to the movements of the pony, while it scrambled up the bank to the sheltering trees. For a couple of miles the path ran through woods alive with the varied voices of the rain, […]
    • 1963, Johanna Moosdorf, Next door:
      She swayed slightly in the gusts, bent supply to them and seemed at one with the force which Straup found so hostile.
    • 1988, Михаи́л Алекса́ндрович Шо́лохов (Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov), Quiet flows the Don (translated), volume 1, page 96:
      Grigory hesitantly took her in his arms to kiss her, but she held him off, bent supply backwards and shot a frightened glance at the windows.
      'They'll see!'
      'Let them!'
      'I'd be ashamed—'

Etymology

From Middle English supplien, from Old French soupleer, souploier, from Latin supplere ‎(“to fill up, make full, complete, supply”). The Middle English spelling was modified to conform to Latin etymology.

Pronunciation

  • (verb, noun)
    • enPR: səplīʹ, IPA(key): /səˈplaɪ/
    • Rhymes: -aɪ
  • (adverb)
    • enPR: sŭpʹlē, IPA(key): /ˈsʌpli/

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