[red-ee] 
adjective, read⋅i⋅er, read⋅i⋅est, verb, read⋅ied, read⋅y⋅ing, noun, interjection | 1. | completely prepared or in fit condition for immediate action or use: troops ready for battle; Dinner is ready. |
| 2. | duly equipped, completed, adjusted, or arranged, as for an occasion or purpose: The mechanic called to say that the car is ready. |
| 3. | willing: ready to forgive. |
| 4. | prompt or quick in perceiving, comprehending, speaking, writing, etc. |
| 5. | proceeding from or showing such quickness: a ready reply. |
| 6. | prompt or quick in action, performance, manifestation, etc.: a keen mind and ready wit. |
| 7. | inclined; disposed; apt: too ready to criticize others. |
| 8. | in such a condition as to be imminent; likely at any moment: a tree ready to fall. |
| 9. | immediately available for use: a ready source of cash. |
| 10. | pertaining to prompt payment. |
| 11. | present or convenient: to lie ready to one's hand. |
| 12. | to make ready; prepare. |
| 13. | the state or condition of being ready. |
| 14. | Informal. ready money; cash. |
| 15. | (used in calling the start of a race to indicate that racers should be prepared to start): Ready! Set! Go! |
| 16. | 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. |
| 17. | get ready! (in calling the start of a race) be prepared to start: Get ready! Get set! Go! |
| 18. | make ready,
|
| 19. | ready up, British and Australian Slang. to swindle. |
| read·y (rěd'ē) adj. read·i·er, read·i·est
To cause to be ready. [Middle English redy, from Old English rǣde; see reidh- in Indo-European roots.] read'i·ness n. |
at the ready
Available for immediate use, as in Umbrellas at the ready, we were prepared to brave the storm. This idiom was originally a military term in which the ready denoted the position of a firearm prepared to be raised and aimed or fired. [First half of 1800s]
i