Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Supply?

\Sup*ply"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Supplied}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Supplying}.] [For older supploy, F. suppl['e]er, OF. also supployer, (assumed) LL. suppletare, from L. supplere, suppletum; sub under + plere to fill, akin to plenus full. See {Plenty}.] 1. To fill up, or keep full; to furnish with what is wanted; to afford, or furnish with, a sufficiency; as, rivers are supplied by smaller streams; an aqueduct supplies an artificial lake; -- often followed by with before the thing furnished; as, to supply a furnace with fuel; to supply soldiers with ammunition. 2. To serve instead of; to take the place of. Burning ships the banished sun supply. --Waller. The sun was set, and Vesper, to supply His absent beams, had lighted up the sky. --Dryden. 3. To fill temporarily; to serve as substitute for another in, as a vacant place or office; to occupy; to have possession of; as, to supply a pulpit. 4. To give; to bring or furnish; to provide; as, to supply money for the war. --Prior. Syn: To furnish; provide; administer; minister; contribute; yield; accommodate.
\Sup*ply"\, n.; pl. {Supplies}. 1. The act of supplying; supplial. --A. Tucker. 2. That which supplies a want; sufficiency of things for use or want. Specifically: (a) Auxiliary troops or re["e]nforcements. ``My promised supply of horsemen.'' --Shak. (b) The food, and the like, which meets the daily necessities of an army or other large body of men; store; -- used chiefly in the plural; as, the army was discontented for lack of supplies. (c) An amount of money provided, as by Parliament or Congress, to meet the annual national expenditures; generally in the plural; as, to vote supplies. (d) A person who fills a place for a time; one who supplies the place of another; a substitute; esp., a clergyman who supplies a vacant pulpit. {Stated supply} (Eccl.), a clergyman employed to supply a pulpit for a definite time, but not settled as a pastor. [U.S.] {Supply and demand}. (Polit. Econ.) ``Demand means the quantity of a given article which would be taken at a given price. Supply means the quantity of that article which could be had at that price.'' --F. A. Walker.
\Sup*ply"\, a. Serving to contain, deliver, or regulate a supply of anything; as, a supply tank or valve. {Supply system} (Zo["o]l.), the system of tubes and canals in sponges by means of which food and water are absorbed. See Illust. of {Spongi[ae]}.