provide

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"
    

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.
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   2. To supply; to afford; to contribute.
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            Bring me berries, or such cooling fruit
            As the kind, hospitable woods provide. --Milton.
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   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.
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   4. To establish as a previous condition; to stipulate; as,
      the contract provides that the work be well done.
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   5. To foresee.

   Note: [A Latinism] [Obs.] --B. Jonson.
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   6. To appoint to an ecclesiastical benefice before it is
      vacant. See {Provisor}. --Prescott.
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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.
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            Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to
            provide for human wants.              --Burke.
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   2. To stipulate previously; to condition; as, the agreement
      provides for an early completion of the work.
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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