supply1

 
Pronunciation: /səˈplʌɪ/

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

noun

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).