supply

- 10 dictionary results

sup⋅ply

1 [suh-plahy]

verb, -plied, -ply⋅ing, noun, plural -plies.

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–verb (used with object)

1.	to furnish or provide (a person, establishment, place, etc.) with what is lacking or requisite: to supply someone clothing; to supply a community with electricity.

2.	to furnish or provide (something wanting or requisite): to supply electricity to a community.

3.	to make up, compensate for, or satisfy (a deficiency, loss, need, etc.): The TVA supplied the need for cheap electricity.

4.	to fill or occupy as a substitute, as a vacancy, a pulpit, etc.: During the summer local clergymen will supply the pulpit.

–verb (used without object)

5.	to fill the place of another, esp. the pulpit of a church, temporarily or as a substitute: Who will supply until the new minister arrives?

–noun

6.	the act of supplying, furnishing, providing, satisfying, etc.: to begin the supply of household help.

7.	something that is supplied: The storm cut off our water supply.

8.	a quantity of something on hand or available, as for use; a stock or store: Did you see our new supply of shirts?

9.	Usually, supplies. a provision, stock, or store of food or other things necessary for maintenance: to lay in supplies for the winter.

10.	Economics. the quantity of a commodity that is in the market and available for purchase or that is available for purchase at a particular price.

11.

supplies, Military.

a.	all items necessary for the equipment, maintenance, and operation of a military command, including food, clothing, arms, ammunition, fuel, materials, and machinery.

b.	procurement, distribution, maintenance, and salvage of supplies.

12.	a person who fills a vacancy or takes the place of another, esp. temporarily.

13.	supplies. Obsolete. reinforcements.

14.	Obsolete. aid.

Origin:
1325–75; (v.) ME sup(p)lien < MF souplier, var. of soupleer ≪ L supplēre to fill up, equiv. to sup- sup- + plēre to fill (see full ¹ ); (n.) late ME: aid, succor, deriv. of the v.

Related forms:

sup⋅pli⋅er, noun

sup⋅ply

2 [suhp-lee]

–adverb

in a supple manner or way; supplely.

Origin:
1525–35; supple + -ly

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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sup·ple (sŭp'əl)

adj. sup·pler, sup·plest

Readily bent; pliant.
Moving and bending with agility; limber.
Yielding or changing readily; compliant or adaptable. See Synonyms at flexible.

tr. & intr.v. sup·pled, sup·pling, sup·ples
To make or become supple.

[Middle English souple, from Old French, from Latin supplex, suppliant; see plāk-¹ in Indo-European roots.]
sup'ple·ness n., sup'ply, sup'ple·ly adv.

sup·ply (sə-plī')

v. sup·plied, sup·ply·ing, sup·plies

v. tr.

To make available for use; provide.
To furnish or equip with: supplied sheets for every bed.
To fill sufficiently; satisfy: supply a need.
To make up for (a deficiency, for example); compensate for.
To serve temporarily as a substitute in (a church, for example).

v. intr.
To fill a position as a substitute.
n. pl. sup·plies

The act of supplying.
Something that is or can be supplied.
An amount available or sufficient for a given use; stock.
Materials or provisions stored and dispensed when needed. Often used in the plural.
Economics The amount of a commodity available for meeting a demand or for purchase at a given price.
A cleric serving as a substitute or temporary pastor.

[Middle English supplien, to help, complete, furnish with additional troops, from Old French soupleer, to fill up, from Latin supplēre : sub-, from below; see sub- + plēre, to fill; see pelə-¹ in Indo-European roots.]
sup·pli'er n.

Cultural Dictionary

supply

The amount of any given commodity available for sale at a given time.

Word Origin & History

supply (v.)

1375, "to help, support, maintain," also "fill up, make up for," from O.Fr. supplier "fill up, make full," from L. supplere "fill up, complete," from sub "up from below" + plere "to fill" (see plenary). The meaning "furnish, provide" first recorded c.1520.

supply (n.)

1423, "assistance, relief," from supply (v.). Meaning "quantity or amount of something provided" is attested from 1607. In the political economy sense (corollary of demand) it dates from 1776. Supply-side in ref. to economic policy is attested from 1976. Supplies "provisions" is from c.1650.

Financial Dictionary

Supply

The total amount of a good or service available for purchase by consumers.

Investopedia Commentary

Think of supply for a good as the total amount that all companies produce.

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