provision

noun

pro·vi·sion | \prə-ˈvi-zhən

Definition of provision

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : the act or process of providing

b : the fact or state of being prepared beforehand

c : a measure taken beforehand to deal with a need or contingency : preparation made provision for replacements

2 : a stock of needed materials or supplies especially : a stock of food —usually used in plural

3 : proviso, stipulation

provision

verb

pro·vi·sion | \prə-ˈvi-zhən

provisioned; provisioning\prə-ˈvi-zhə-niŋ,

-ˈvizh-niŋ \

Definition of provision (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

: to supply with needed materials (such as food) : to supply with provisions

Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about provision

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Examples of provision in a Sentence

Noun

The President, of all people, should know how difficult it is to take care of basic things like, say, prescription drugs for the elderly or shelter from the storm—especially if your government places a low priority on the efficient provision of public services and a high priority on the care and feeding of cronies … — Joe Klein, Time, 6 Feb. 2006 Nothing was overlooked. There was a fallback position, a fail-safe provision, for any contingency. — Gary Wills, New York Times Book Review, 1 Apr. 2001 They wheedled the American Congress into awarding entry terms more favorable than those enjoyed by any other state, including two unique provisions: Texas and not the federal government would own all public lands, and the state would retain forever the right to divide into five smaller states if that proved attractive, each one to have two senators and a proportionate number of representatives. — James A. Michener, Texas, 1985 Provisions should be made for regular inspections. He made provisions to donate part of his fortune to charity after he died. You should make provision for emergencies. I carried my provisions in one large backpack. We brought enough provisions to last the entire trip.

Verb

Few modern eaters consume such a wide range of plants, fruits, and animals, even when provisioned by a vast international or multi-ethnic marketplace. — Donna R. Gabaccia, We Are What We Eat, 1998 But biographies, like translations, are rarely provisioned to last forever, for they reflect the world of their authors as much as their subjects. — Morris Dickstein, New York Times Book Review, 1 Feb. 1998 As the cubs began to feed more regularly on meat, she provisioned them with hares, hyraxes, an Egyptian mongoose, and guinea fowl. — John A. Cavallo, Natural History, February 1990 They stopped to provision the ship. the climbers were sufficiently provisioned to withstand just about any mountaineering emergency

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The order blocks the provision in a state law taking effect Sunday. — Rick Callahan, Post-Tribune, "Judge temporarily blocks Indiana abortion reporting rule," 28 June 2018 Girod wound up putting a provision in Long’s contract that provides some security in case KU receives NCAA punishment. — Gary Bedore, kansascity, "Jeff Long cites Bill Self as factor in accepting KU job: ‘He recruited me here’," 11 July 2018 The provisions in question prohibit franchisees from hiring workers away from other restaurants within the same chain. — Hailey Mensik, chicagotribune.com, "Illinois, 10 other states take aim at 'no-poaching' clauses that critics say limit fast-food workers' pay," 9 July 2018 The authors discuss this provision only in connection with a motion to recuse based solely on the judge’s general religious affiliation — identifying as Catholic, Jew, Mormon, or the like. — Mark Tushnet, Vox, "Is it anti-Catholic to ask a Supreme Court nominee how her religion affects her decisions?," 5 July 2018 The lawsuit goes after a provision in the law that requires local teachers unions to reapply for certification from the state, if their membership fell below 50 percent of the teaching staff in their district. — Leslie Postal, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Florida teachers union sues state over 'busting unions' law," 2 July 2018 The order blocks the provision in a state law taking effect Sunday. — Rick Callahan, Indianapolis Star, "Judge temporarily blocks abortion reporting rule in Indiana," 29 June 2018 The bill allows consumers to sue companies that fail to adequately safeguard their personal data, a provision in response to data breaches like the ones at Target and Equifax. — Melody Gutierrez, SFChronicle.com, "Uneasy California lawmakers set to OK internet privacy bill," 27 June 2018 The memos are a major win for members of Alaska's congressional delegation, who have been attempting to reverse the provision in a variety of ways for years. — Erica Martinson, Anchorage Daily News, "Under rule change, Alaska Native corporations could once again get high-dollar government contracts," 26 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Then came the letters carried out by the teams of divers who took oxygen, food and medicine to the boys' refuge as experts pondered whether to dive them out or provision them for months while the monsoon season continues until at least late October. — Kaweewit Kaewjinda And Stephen Wright, Houston Chronicle, "Amid jubilation, 4 more boys rescued from flooded Thai cave," 10 July 2018 Then came the letters carried out by the teams of divers who took oxygen, food and medicine to the boys’ refuge as experts pondered whether to dive them out or provision them for months while the monsoon season continues until at least late October. — Kaweewit Kaewjinda And Stephen Wright, BostonGlobe.com, "Four boys have been rescued from Thai cave," 9 July 2018 There's quite a bit of work going into the virtualization front as well, with new versions of cloud-init and MAAS, Ubuntu's UI to provision all your Ubuntu servers from a single interface. — Scott Gilbertson, Ars Technica, "Ubuntu 18.04: Unity is gone, GNOME is back—and Ubuntu has never been better," 9 May 2018 In the 1920s, sports, cutting edge fashion, interior design and an expedition department (Fortnum’s provisioned the first expedition to Mount Everest) were added to the mix effectively creating a department store. — Amy Tara Koch, New York Times, "A Road Map to Shopping Like a Royal in London," 9 May 2018 In a joint effort with Major League Baseball, Spillane had come to testify about the prospect of legalized sports betting and what provisions the professional leagues believed should be included in potential laws. — Adam Kilgore, chicagotribune.com, "With states free to legalize sports betting, do the pro leagues deserve a cut?," 17 May 2018 Back seat space is also beautifully provisioned and almost too nice to soil with family duty. — Mark Maynard, sandiegouniontribune.com, "2018 Volvo XC60 T6 AWD: North American SUV of the Year," 23 Feb. 2018 For what country was better provisioned than France? — The Economist, "The maker of chefsPaul Bocuse died on January 20th," 25 Jan. 2018 In October, its plan to require banks to fully provision for unsecured new loans deemed nonperforming faced a backlash by European lawmakers, who said legislators—not technocrats—should make the rules. — Max Colchester, WSJ, "Europe Seeks Crackdown on Brexit Bank Arbitrage," 20 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'provision.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for provision

Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin & Latin; Late Latin provision-, provisio act of providing, from Latin, foresight, from providēre to see ahead — more at provide

Verb

see provision entry 1

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