supply
    n 1: an amount of something available for use
    2: offering goods and services for sale [ant: demand]
    3: the activity of supplying or providing something [syn:
       provision, supply, supplying]
    v 1: give something useful or necessary to; "We provided the
         room with an electrical heater" [syn: supply, provide,
         render, furnish]
    2: circulate or distribute or equip with; "issue a new uniform
       to the children"; "supply blankets for the beds" [syn:
       issue, supply] [ant: recall]
    3: give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or
       sustenance; "The hostess provided lunch for all the guests"
       [syn: provide, supply, ply, cater]
    4: state or say further; "`It doesn't matter,' he supplied"
       [syn: add, append, supply]

Supply \Sup*ply"\, n.; pl. Supplies.
   1. The act of supplying; supplial. --A. Tucker.
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   2. That which supplies a want; sufficiency of things for use
      or want. Specifically: 
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      (a) Auxiliary troops or reenforcements. "My promised
          supply of horsemen." --Shak.
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      (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.
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      (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.
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      (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.
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   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.
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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.
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   2. To serve instead of; to take the place of.
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            Burning ships the banished sun supply. --Waller.
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            The sun was set, and Vesper, to supply
            His absent beams, had lighted up the sky. --Dryden.
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   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.
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   4. To give; to bring or furnish; to provide; as, to supply
      money for the war. --Prior.
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   Syn: To furnish; provide; administer; minister; contribute;
        yield; accommodate.
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Supply \Sup*ply"\, a.
   Serving to contain, deliver, or regulate a supply of
   anything; as, a supply tank or valve.
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   Supply system (Zool.), the system of tubes and canals in
      sponges by means of which food and water are absorbed. See
      Illust. of Spongiae.
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