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.
Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants.
Burke. 2. To stipulate previously; to condition; as, the agreement provides
for an early completion of the work.
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.
2. To supply; to afford; to contribute.
Bring me berries, or such cooling fruit
As the kind, hospitable woods provide.
Milton.
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.
4.
To establish as a previous
condition; to stipulate; as, the contract provides that the work
be well done.
5. To foresee. [A Latinism] [Obs.] B. Jonson.
6. To appoint to
an ecclesiastical benefice before it is vacant.
See Provisor.
Prescott.
Hear it pronounced