Sup*ply" , a. Serving to contain, deliver, or regulate a
supply of anything; as, a supply tank or valve.
Supply
system (Zoöl.),
the system of tubes and canals in sponges by means of which food
and water are absorbed. See Illust. of Spongiæ.
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 reënforcements. "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" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Supplied (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Supplying (?).]
[For older supploy,
F. suppléer, 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.
Hear it pronounced