provide
verb
Simple meaning
Give what is desired or needed.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pruhvydSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
pɹəˈvaɪd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance
“The hostess provided lunch for all the guests.”
To furnish (with), cause to be present, supply.
To act to prepare for something.
To establish as a previous condition; to stipulate.
Make a possibility or provide opportunity for; permit to be attainable or cause to remain
To make a living; earn money for necessities.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance
Used this way, provide is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The hostess provided lunch for all the guests.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use provide
- “He provides for his large family by working three jobs.”verb
- “The hostess provided lunch for all the guests.”verb
- “We provided the room with an electrical heater.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Someone whose business is to supply a particular service or commodity.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A person who helps in identifying or preventing or treating illness or disability.
A person who helps in identifying or preventing or treating illness or disability.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- supportverb
- assistancenoun
- sufficientadjective
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: give what is desired or needed or especially support
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.