Supply \Sup*ply"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Supplied; p. pr. & vb. n. Supplying.]

[For older supploy, F. suppl['e]er, 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Supply \Sup*ply"\, a. Serving to contain, deliver, or regulate a supply of anything; as, a supply tank or valve.

Supply system (Zo["o]l.), the system of tubes and canals in sponges by means of which food and water are absorbed. See Illust. of Spongi[ae].

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Supply \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 re["e]nforcements. ``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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)