Library / English Dictionary

FURNISH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give something useful or necessary to

Example:

We provided the room with an electrical heater

Synonyms:

furnish; provide; render; supply

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "furnish" is one way to...):

give (transfer possession of something concrete or abstract to somebody)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "furnish"):

constitutionalize (provide with a constitution, as of a country)

cornice (furnish with a cornice)

corbel (furnish with a corbel)

coal (supply with coal)

cleat (provide with cleats)

upholster (provide furniture with padding, springs, webbing, and covers)

transistorise; transistorize (equip (an electronic circuit or device) with transistors)

equip; fit; fit out; outfit (provide with (something) usually for a specific purpose)

afford; give; yield (be the cause or source of)

provision; purvey (supply with provisions)

fuel (provide with a combustible substance that provides energy)

key (provide with a key)

tool (furnish with tools)

rafter (provide (a ceiling) with rafters)

bottom (provide with a bottom or a seat)

costume (furnish with costumes; as for a film or play)

computerise; computerize (provide with computers)

bed (furnish with a bed)

berth (provide with a berth)

slat (equip or bar with slats)

furnish (provide or equip with furniture)

brattice (supply with a brattice, to ventilate mines)

bush (provide with a bushing)

canal; canalise; canalize (provide (a city) with a canal)

shelter (provide shelter for)

headquarter (provide with headquarters)

kern (furnish with a kern)

theme (provide with a particular theme or motive)

hat (furnish with a hat)

sanitate (provide with sanitary facilities or appliances)

machicolate (supply with projecting galleries)

border; edge (provide with a border or edge)

retrofit (provide with parts, devices, or equipment not available or in use at the time of the original manufacture)

reflectorise; reflectorize (provide with reflectors, such as chemicals)

top; top out (provide with a top or finish the top (of a structure))

tap (furnish with a tap or spout, so as to be able to draw liquid from it)

leverage (provide with leverage)

water (provide with water)

patch (provide with a patch; also used metaphorically)

toggle (provide with a toggle or toggles)

flood; glut; oversupply (supply with an excess of)

fire; fuel (provide with fuel)

pump (supply in great quantities)

pour (supply in large amounts or quantities)

articulate; joint (provide with a joint)

index (provide with an index)

gate (supply with a gate)

curtain (provide with drapery)

copper-bottom (provide with a copper bottom)

rail (provide with rails)

step (furnish with steps)

fret (provide (a musical instrument) with frets)

rim (furnish with a rim)

stock (supply with fish)

stock (supply with livestock)

ticket (provide with a ticket for passage or admission)

tube (provide with a tube or insert a tube into)

caption (provide with a caption, as of a photograph or a drawing)

buy in; stock; stock up (amass so as to keep for future use or sale or for a particular occasion or use)

stock (provide or furnish with a stock of something)

extend; offer (make available; provide)

signalise; signalize (provide with traffic signals)

offer (make available or accessible, provide or furnish)

innervate (supply nerves to (some organ or body part))

dado (provide with a dado)

terrace; terrasse (provide (a house) with a terrace)

scant; skimp; stint (supply sparingly and with restricted quantities)

fund (provide a fund for the redemption of principal or payment of interest)

calk (provide with calks)

feed (feed into; supply)

date (provide with a dateline; mark with a date)

charge (energize a battery by passing a current through it in the direction opposite to discharge)

hydrate (supply water or liquid to in order to maintain a healthy balance)

causeway (provide with a causeway)

crenel; crenelate; crenellate (supply with battlements)

glass; glaze (furnish with glass)

interleave (provide (books) with blank leaves)

arm (supply with arms)

ramp (furnish with a ramp)

seat (put a seat on a chair)

seat (provide with seats)

heat (provide with heat)

cloy; surfeit (supply or feed to surfeit)

victual (supply with food)

wive (provide with a wife; marry (someone) to a wife)

hobnail (supply with hobnails)

match (provide funds complementary to)

headline (provide (a newspaper page or a story) with a headline)

subtitle (supply (a movie) with subtitles)

bewhisker; whisker (furnish with whiskers)

partner (provide with a partner)

railroad (supply with railroad lines)

uniform (provide with uniforms)

air-condition; air-cool (equip with an apparatus for controlling the humidity and temperature)

wharf (provide with a wharf)

alphabetize (provide with an alphabet)

capitalise; capitalize (supply with capital, as of a business by using a combination of capital used by investors and debt capital provided by lenders)

grate (furnish with a grate)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody with something
Somebody ----s something with something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Provide or equip with furniture

Example:

We furnished the house in the Biedermeyer style

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "furnish" is one way to...):

furnish; provide; render; supply (give something useful or necessary to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "furnish"):

refurnish (furnish with new or different furniture)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

furnishing ((usually plural) the instrumentalities (furniture and appliances and other movable accessories including curtains and rugs) that make a home (or other area) livable)

furniture (furnishings that make a room or other area ready for occupancy)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Joe ran the tiler, a machine wherein a hot iron was hooked on a steel string which furnished the pressure.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“If it were merely a fine house richly furnished,” said she, “I should not care about it myself; but the grounds are delightful. They have some of the finest woods in the country.”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

It is a scantily furnished room.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We hold Bertrand in high esteem, for he has oft before been at great pains to furnish us with an honorable encounter.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Emma was soon perfectly satisfied of Mr. Martin's being no otherwise remembered, than as he furnished a contrast with Mr. Elton, of the utmost advantage to the latter.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Mrs. Dashwood took the house for a twelvemonth; it was ready furnished, and she might have immediate possession.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

If that be all your difficulty, I will furnish you with paper and every other material, and you may write your letter whenever you choose.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

One was a dining-room, severely furnished and containing nothing of interest.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was barely furnished with odd things, which seemed to have never been used; the furniture was something the same style as that in the south rooms, and was covered with dust.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

A few sticks of driftwood furnished them with a fire that thawed down through the ice and left them to eat supper in the dark.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)