PROVIDE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does provide mean? 

• PROVIDE (verb)
  The verb PROVIDE has 7 senses:

1. give something useful or necessary to

2. give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance

3. determine (what is to happen in certain contingencies), especially by including a proviso condition or stipulation

4. mount or put up

5. make a possibility or provide opportunity for; permit to be attainable or cause to remain

6. supply means of subsistence; earn a living

7. take measures in preparation for

  Familiarity information: PROVIDE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PROVIDE (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give something useful or necessary to

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

furnish; provide; render; supply

Context example:

We provided the room with an electrical heater

Hypernyms (to "provide" is one way to...):

give (transfer possession of something concrete or abstract to somebody)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "provide"):

hydrate (supply water or liquid to in order to maintain a healthy balance)

charge (energize a battery by passing a current through it in the direction opposite to discharge)

date (provide with a dateline; mark with a date)

feed (feed into; supply)

calk (provide with calks)

fund (provide a fund for the redemption of principal or payment of interest)

scant; skimp; stint (supply sparingly and with restricted quantities)

terrace; terrasse (provide (a house) with a terrace)

dado (provide with a dado)

innervate (supply nerves to (some organ or body part))

offer (make available or accessible, provide or furnish)

signalise; signalize (provide with traffic signals)

extend; offer (make available; provide)

stock (provide or furnish with a stock of something)

buy in; stock; stock up (amass so as to keep for future use or sale or for a particular occasion or use)

caption (provide with a caption, as of a photograph or a drawing)

tube (provide with a tube or insert a tube into)

ticket (provide with a ticket for passage or admission)

stock (supply with livestock)

stock (supply with fish)

rim (furnish with a rim)

fret (provide (a musical instrument) with frets)

step (furnish with steps)

rail (provide with rails)

grate (furnish with a grate)

capitalise; capitalize (supply with capital, as of a business by using a combination of capital used by investors and debt capital provided by lenders)

alphabetize (provide with an alphabet)

wharf (provide with a wharf)

air-condition; air-cool (equip with an apparatus for controlling the humidity and temperature)

uniform (provide with uniforms)

railroad (supply with railroad lines)

partner (provide with a partner)

bewhisker; whisker (furnish with whiskers)

subtitle (supply (a movie) with subtitles)

headline (provide (a newspaper page or a story) with a headline)

match (provide funds complementary to)

hobnail (supply with hobnails)

wive (provide with a wife; marry (someone) to a wife)

victual (supply with food)

cloy; surfeit (supply or feed to surfeit)

heat (provide with heat)

seat (provide with seats)

seat (put a seat on a chair)

ramp (furnish with a ramp)

arm (supply with arms)

interleave (provide (books) with blank leaves)

glass; glaze (furnish with glass)

crenel; crenelate; crenellate (supply with battlements)

causeway (provide with a causeway)

canal; canalise; canalize (provide (a city) with a canal)

bush (provide with a bushing)

brattice (supply with a brattice, to ventilate mines)

furnish (provide or equip with furniture)

slat (equip or bar with slats)

berth (provide with a berth)

bed (furnish with a bed)

computerise; computerize (provide with computers)

costume (furnish with costumes; as for a film or play)

bottom (provide with a bottom or a seat)

rafter (provide (a ceiling) with rafters)

tool (furnish with tools)

key (provide with a key)

fuel (provide with a combustible substance that provides energy)

provision; purvey (supply with provisions)

afford; give; yield (be the cause or source of)

equip; fit; fit out; outfit (provide with (something) usually for a specific purpose)

transistorise; transistorize (equip (an electronic circuit or device) with transistors)

upholster (provide furniture with padding, springs, webbing, and covers)

cleat (provide with cleats)

coal (supply with coal)

corbel (furnish with a corbel)

cornice (furnish with a cornice)

constitutionalize (provide with a constitution, as of a country)

copper-bottom (provide with a copper bottom)

curtain (provide with drapery)

gate (supply with a gate)

index (provide with an index)

articulate; joint (provide with a joint)

pour (supply in large amounts or quantities)

pump (supply in great quantities)

fire; fuel (provide with fuel)

flood; glut; oversupply (supply with an excess of)

toggle (provide with a toggle or toggles)

patch (provide with a patch; also used metaphorically)

water (provide with water)

leverage (provide with leverage)

tap (furnish with a tap or spout, so as to be able to draw liquid from it)

top; top out (provide with a top or finish the top (of a structure))

reflectorise; reflectorize (provide with reflectors, such as chemicals)

retrofit (provide with parts, devices, or equipment not available or in use at the time of the original manufacture)

border; edge (provide with a border or edge)

machicolate (supply with projecting galleries)

sanitate (provide with sanitary facilities or appliances)

hat (furnish with a hat)

theme (provide with a particular theme or motive)

kern (furnish with a kern)

headquarter (provide with headquarters)

shelter (provide shelter for)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody with something
Somebody ----s something with something

Derivation:

provider (someone whose business is to supply a particular service or commodity)

provision (the activity of supplying or providing something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

cater; ply; provide; supply

Context example:

The hostess provided lunch for all the guests

Hypernyms (to "provide" is one way to...):

give (transfer possession of something concrete or abstract to somebody)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "provide"):

staff (provide with staff)

drench (force to drink)

regale; treat (provide with choice or abundant food or drink)

board (provide food and lodging (for))

feed; give (give food to)

feed (serve as food for; be the food for)

dish; dish out; dish up; serve; serve up (provide (usually but not necessarily food))

cater (supply food ready to eat; for parties and banquets)

pander; pimp; procure (arrange for sexual partners for others)

help; serve (help to some food; help with food or drink)

power (supply the force or power for the functioning of)

feed (provide as food)

gratify; indulge; pander (yield (to); give satisfaction to)

underlay (provide with a base, support, lining, or backing)

conform to; fill; fit; fulfil; fulfill; meet; satisfy (fill, satisfy or meet a want or need or condtion ro restriction)

horse (provide with a horse or horses)

shower (provide abundantly with)

accommodate (provide with something desired or needed)

nourish; nurture; sustain (provide with nourishment)

fix up (find (something or someone) for)

gutter (provide with gutters)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody with something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence examples:

They provide the food to the people
They provide the people the food

Derivation:

provider (someone who provides the means for subsistence)

provision (the activity of supplying or providing something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Determine (what is to happen in certain contingencies), especially by including a proviso condition or stipulation

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

The Constitution provides for the right to free speech

Hypernyms (to "provide" is one way to...):

condition; qualify; specify; stipulate (specify as a condition or requirement in a contract or agreement; make an express demand or provision in an agreement)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
It ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

provision (a stipulated condition)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Mount or put up

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

offer; provide; put up

Context example:

offer resistance

Hypernyms (to "provide" is one way to...):

engage; wage (carry on (wars, battles, or campaigns))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make a possibility or provide opportunity for; permit to be attainable or cause to remain

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

allow; allow for; leave; provide

Context example:

This procedure provides for lots of leeway

Hypernyms (to "provide" is one way to...):

afford; give; yield (be the cause or source of)

Verb group:

admit; allow (afford possibility)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 6

Meaning:

Supply means of subsistence; earn a living

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

bring home the bacon; provide

Context example:

Women nowadays not only take care of the household but also bring home the bacon

Hypernyms (to "provide" is one way to...):

support (support materially or financially)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

provision (the activity of supplying or providing something)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Take measures in preparation for

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

provide for the proper care of the passengers on the cruise ship

Hypernyms (to "provide" is one way to...):

fix; gear up; prepare; ready; set; set up (make ready or suitable or equip in advance for a particular purpose or for some use, event, etc)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

provident (providing carefully for the future)

 Context examples 

Did Henry's income depend solely on this living, he would not be ill-provided for.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

"To-day you must operate. I shall provide. You are weakened already."

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The false colors provide a way to humans to talk about infrared wavelengths of light their eyes cannot actually see.

(Citizen Scientists Discover Yellow "Space Balls", NASA)

There was once a miller who had one beautiful daughter, and as she was grown up, he was anxious that she should be well married and provided for.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

That is how Saturn and Pluto provide insight.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

To be sure, what I begged was employment; but whose business was it to provide me with employment?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It contains descriptions of species provided by researchers from all around Brazil and abroad.

(Report unveils 381 new plant and animal species in Amazon, Agência Brasil)

In animal studies, two of these antibodies provided substantial protection against disease caused by Zaire ebolavirus, Bundibugyo ebolavirus and Sudan ebolavirus, the three species known to cause fatal human illness.

(Broadly acting antibodies found in plasma of Ebola survivors, National Institutes of Health)

It is, in fact, the only sure way of providing against the connexion.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

An artery located in the abdomen that provides blood to the adrenal glands.

(Adrenal Artery, NCI Thesaurus)