Library / English Dictionary

PROCURE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Arrange for sexual partners for others

Synonyms:

pander; pimp; procure

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

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

cater; ply; provide; supply (give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

procurer (someone who procures customers for whores (in England they call a pimp a ponce))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Get by special effort

Example:

He procured extra cigarettes even though they were rationed

Synonyms:

procure; secure

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

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

obtain (come into possession of)

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

suborn (procure (false testimony or perjury))

copyright (secure a copyright on a written work)

patent (obtain a patent for)

engage; enlist (hire for work or assistance)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Derivation:

procural; procurance; procurement (the act of getting possession of something)

procurer (someone who obtains or acquires)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Some one wanted to learn to imitate your writing, and had to procure a specimen of it first.

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

He procured a packing-case from the woodpile in the cellar, fitted a cover to it, and raided the scrap-iron the Silva tribe was collecting for the junkman.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Far from that, Diana; his sole idea in proposing to me is to procure a fitting fellow-labourer in his Indian toils.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

And, as to procuring a dispensation, there could be no difficulty at his time of life, and with his character.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Murder was not tolerated, servants were not slaves, and neither poison nor sleeping potions to be procured, like rhubarb, from every druggist.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Out of gratitude for the favours you have done me, I procured information of the whole proceedings, and a copy of the articles; wherein I venture my head for your service.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

A laboratory method in which the tissue from a histology slide is dissected under a microscope to procure specific cells or cell populations.

(Microdissection, NCI Thesaurus)

While I was waiting for the coach in the hotel at Yarmouth that very afternoon, I procured a sheet of paper and an inkstand, and wrote a note to Peggotty, which ran thus: My dear Peggotty.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

After some delay, the object of her desire was procured, likewise a bottle of dressing to prevent further loss of time at home, and off she drove again, well pleased with her own forethought.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

For HIM she felt much compassion;—for Lucy very little—and it cost her some pains to procure that little;—for the rest of the party none at all.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)