supply1

Pronunciation: /səˈplʌɪ/

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Definition of supply

verb (supplies, supplying, supplied)

[with object]

1make (something needed or wanted) available to someone; provide:the farm supplies apples to cider makers
provide with something needed or wanted:make sure the workers are supplied with enough building materials
be adequate to satisfy (a requirement or demand):the two reservoirs supply about 1% of the city’s needs

2 archaic take over (a vacant place or role):when she died, no one could supply her place

noun (plural supplies)

1a stock or amount of something supplied or available for use:a farm with good water supply the demand for tickets greatly exceeds the supply
[mass noun] the action of providing what is needed or wanted:the deal involved the supply of forty fighter aircraft
[mass noun] Economics the amount of a good or service offered for sale.
(supplies) the provisions and equipment necessary for an army or for people engaged in a particular project or expedition.
[as modifier] providing necessary goods and equipment:a supply ship
(supplies) British a grant of money by Parliament for the costs of government.

2 [usually as modifier] a person, especially a schoolteacher, acting as a temporary substitute for another:a supply teacher

Phrases

in short supply: not easily obtainable; scarce:he meant to go, but time and petrol were in short supply
on supply: (of a schoolteacher) acting as a temporary substitute for another: she is on supply at a school in Middlesbrough
supply and demand: the amount of a commodity, product, or service available and the desire of buyers for it, considered as factors regulating its price:by the law of supply and demand the cost of health care will plummet

Derivatives

supplier

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French soupleer, from Latin supplere 'fill up', from sub- 'from below' + plere 'fill'. The early sense of the noun was 'assistance, relief' (chiefly a Scots use)

Spelling rule

If a word ends in a consonant plus -y (as in defy), change the -y to an -i before adding any ending (unless the ending already begins with an -i): (supplies, supplying, supplied).

supply in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of supply in the US English dictionary

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Other

supply1

verb (supplies, supplying, supplied)

noun (plural supplies)

Phrases

in short supply

on supply

supply and demand

Derivatives

supplier

Origin:

Spelling rule

supply in other Oxford dictionaries

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