Search Result for "provide": 
Wordnet 3.0

VERB (7)

1. give something useful or necessary to;
- Example: "We provided the room with an electrical heater"
[syn: supply, provide, render, furnish]

2. give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance;
- Example: "The hostess provided lunch for all the guests"
[syn: provide, supply, ply, cater]

3. determine (what is to happen in certain contingencies), especially by including a proviso condition or stipulation;
- Example: "The will provides that each child should receive half of the money"
- Example: "The Constitution provides for the right to free speech"

4. mount or put up;
- Example: "put up a good fight"
- Example: "offer resistance"
[syn: put up, provide, offer]

5. make a possibility or provide opportunity for; permit to be attainable or cause to remain;
- Example: "This leaves no room for improvement"
- Example: "The evidence allows only one conclusion"
- Example: "allow for mistakes"
- Example: "leave lots of time for the trip"
- Example: "This procedure provides for lots of leeway"
[syn: leave, allow for, allow, provide]

6. supply means of subsistence; earn a living;
- Example: "He provides for his large family by working three jobs"
- Example: "Women nowadays not only take care of the household but also bring home the bacon"
[syn: provide, bring home the bacon]

7. take measures in preparation for;
- Example: "provide for the proper care of the passengers on the cruise ship"


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Provide \Pro*vide"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Provided; p. pr. & vb. n. Providing.] [L. providere, provisum; pro before + videre to see. See Vision, and cf. Prudent, Purvey.] 1. To look out for in advance; to procure beforehand; to get, collect, or make ready for future use; to prepare. "Provide us all things necessary." --Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. To supply; to afford; to contribute. [1913 Webster] Bring me berries, or such cooling fruit As the kind, hospitable woods provide. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 3. To furnish; to supply; -- formerly followed by of, now by with. "And yet provided him of but one." --Jer. Taylor. "Rome . . . was well provided with corn." --Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster] 4. To establish as a previous condition; to stipulate; as, the contract provides that the work be well done. [1913 Webster] 5. To foresee. Note: [A Latinism] [Obs.] --B. Jonson. [1913 Webster] 6. To appoint to an ecclesiastical benefice before it is vacant. See Provisor. --Prescott. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Provide \Pro*vide"\, v. i. 1. To procure supplies or means in advance; to take measures beforehand in view of an expected or a possible future need, especially a danger or an evil; -- followed by against or for; as, to provide against the inclemency of the weather; to provide for the education of a child. [1913 Webster] Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants. --Burke. [1913 Webster] 2. To stipulate previously; to condition; as, the agreement provides for an early completion of the work. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

provide v 1: give something useful or necessary to; "We provided the room with an electrical heater" [syn: supply, provide, render, furnish] 2: give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance; "The hostess provided lunch for all the guests" [syn: provide, supply, ply, cater] 3: determine (what is to happen in certain contingencies), especially by including a proviso condition or stipulation; "The will provides that each child should receive half of the money"; "The Constitution provides for the right to free speech" 4: mount or put up; "put up a good fight"; "offer resistance" [syn: put up, provide, offer] 5: make a possibility or provide opportunity for; permit to be attainable or cause to remain; "This leaves no room for improvement"; "The evidence allows only one conclusion"; "allow for mistakes"; "leave lots of time for the trip"; "This procedure provides for lots of leeway" [syn: leave, allow for, allow, provide] 6: supply means of subsistence; earn a living; "He provides for his large family by working three jobs"; "Women nowadays not only take care of the household but also bring home the bacon" [syn: provide, bring home the bacon] 7: take measures in preparation for; "provide for the proper care of the passengers on the cruise ship"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

97 Moby Thesaurus words for "provide": accommodate, accommodate with, accord, afford, anticipate, arrange, arrange for, attend to, care for, cater, clear for action, clear the decks, clothe, contribute, cure, deliver, demand, deploy, dispense, donate, dress, endow, equip, favor with, feed, fill, fill up, find, fix, fix up, forearm, fund, furnish, get ready, give, hand, hand over, heap upon, indulge with, invest, keep, lavish upon, lay down, lend, look after, maintain, make arrangements, make available, make preparations, make provision for, make ready, marshal, minister to, mobilize, offer, outfit, plan, pour on, prearrange, prep, prepare, prepare for, present, pretreat, process, produce, provender, provide for, purvey, put in shape, ready, ready up, recruit, replenish, require, settle preliminaries, shower down upon, specify, state, stipulate, stock, stock up, store, subsidize, supply, support, take care of, take measures, take precautions, tan, transfer, treat, trim, try out, turn over, victual, yield