provide
/prəˈvʌɪd
/verb
1 [with object] Make available for use; supply: these clubs provide a much appreciated service for this area...
- Our aim was to raise awareness of the benefits and support available to those who provide unpaid care.
- Members of the Ladies Club provided a wonderful service throughout the day with refreshments available at all times.
- The group is active in repairing schools and providing educational supplies.
Synonyms
supply, give, issue, furnish, lay out, come up with, dispense, bestow, impart, produce, yield, bring forth, bear, deliver, donate, contribute, pledge, advance, spare, part with, allocate, distribute, allot, assign, put forward, put up, proffer, present, extend, render
informal fork out
North American informal ante up, pony up
1.1 (provide someone with) Equip or supply someone with (something useful or necessary): we were provided with a map of the area...
- The Commissioner identified the reasons for fixing the airport charges and that included providing Dublin with the necessary resources to develop its infrastructure so as to avoid congestion and bottlenecks.
- A submarine fleet is still essential in providing Canada with the necessary means to defend the world's longest coastline.
- It was her role as a graduate trainee at Reuters, the first female to be taken on in this post, that provided Anne with the discipline necessary for writing a book.
Synonyms
equip, furnish, issue, supply, outfit;
fit out, rig out, kit out, arm, array, attire, accoutre, provision, stock, purvey, accommodate, bestow, favour, endow, present
informal fix up
1.2Present or yield (something useful): neither will provide answers to these problems...
- Conference speakers also provided some useful ideas for dealing with the agreement-making process.
- According to Cameron, Sun Mircosystems provided a useful point of reference in the area of industry partnerships.
- According to Paul Neville the inquiry into regional radio provides a useful model.
Synonyms
make available, present, offer, afford, accord, give, add, bring, yield, impart, bestow, confer, lend
2 [no object] (provide for) Make adequate preparation for (a possible event): new qualifications must provide for changes in technology...
- The plan for the huge event provides for 25 miles of electric cable and a 50,000 gallon water supply.
- So we are preparing and providing for the kind of investment into the modernization needs of the country and readiness needs of the country.
- The plan provides for a framework for the management of acid sulfate soils.
Synonyms
prepare, allow, make provision, make preparations, be prepared, anticipate, arrange, make arrangements, get ready, plan, make plans, cater
2.1Supply sufficient money to ensure the maintenance of (someone): Emma was handsomely provided for in Frannie’s will...
- Its main aim was to ensure pension provision was provided for employees.
- To me, I am pro-life because I respect the fact that a child should only be brought in to a world where it can be looked after and provided for sufficiently.
- Host families meet the costs of providing for the children during their Irish stay.
Synonyms
feed, nurture, nourish, give food to, provide board for;
support, maintain, keep, sustain, provide sustenance for, fend for, finance, endow;
take care of, care for, look after
2.2(Of a law) enable or allow (something to be done): the Bill provides for the setting of guaranteed service standards...
- Many States, particularly under the pressure arising from the conclusion of treaties setting out international crimes, have passed legislation providing for jurisdiction based on nationality.
- The law of defamation provides for the defences of fair comment and of qualified privilege in appropriate cases.
- Did the Crown act arbitrarily by bringing this matter directly before a Provincial Court Judge in the total absence of a statutory enactment which allows or provides for such a practice?
3 [with clause] Stipulate in a will or other legal document: the order should be varied to provide that there would be no contact with the father...
- The mortgage provides that the mortgagor shall pay all municipal taxes as they fall due.
- It provides that it is unlawful for a public authority to act in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right.
- This material plainly has to reach the expert and the clause provides that it should do so within a specific time limit.
Synonyms
stipulate, lay down, have as a condition, make it a condition, require, order, ordain, demand, prescribe, state, set out, specify
4 [with object] (provide someone to) Christian Church, historical Appoint an incumbent to (a benefice).Sometime after April 18, 1378, he was provided to the bishopric by Urban, and consecrated before March 26, 1379....
- Laing was Rector of Tannadice in Angus, Vicar of Linlithgow, and Rector of Newlands in the diocese of Glasgow when he was provided to the See of Glasgow.
Origin
Late Middle English (also in the sense 'prepare to do, get ready'): from Latin providere 'foresee, attend to', from pro- 'before' + videre 'to see'.
vision from Middle English:
A vision initially referred to a ‘supernatural apparition’; it comes via Old French from Latin from videre ‘to see’. Revise (mid 16th century) originally ‘look again or repeatedly (at)’ is from the same source, as is provide (Late Middle English). Visit (Middle English) is from visare ‘view’ formed from videre while visual (Late Middle English) is from visus ‘sight’, again from videre. See also advice