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

While these provisions are horrific, this rule is not a foregone conclusion. — Jess Davidson, Glamour, "Why Does the Department of Education Want to Put Sexual Assault Survivors on Trial?," 28 Nov. 2018 Stripping out the investor dispute-settlement provision was an American demand. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "Bad Trade Timing," 25 Nov. 2018 The workplace pumping provision wasn’t in the original draft of the bill, and its inclusion came about in large part because of Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley. — Jenna Sauers, Harper's BAZAAR, "Why Women Really Quit Breastfeeding," 17 July 2018 Republican secretary of state candidate Mary Treder Lang said many provisions already are in state law. — David Eggert, Detroit Free Press, "Group submits signatures for ballot measure to expand voting in Michigan," 9 July 2018 The Justice Department recently sided with the Republican states in arguing that the provisions protecting people with existing medical conditions are unconstitutional, which would upend the market entirely. — Reed Abelson, New York Times, "Obamacare Is Proving Hard to Kill," 3 July 2018 Another provision was the creation of a new pension level, known as Tier 4, which is a hybrid plan for new employees that is similar to a 401(k) plan that Republicans and conservative Democrats have long supported as a cost saving measure. — Christopher Keating, courant.com, "State Employees To Receive Bonuses Soon As Part Of Agreement Between Unions, Malloy," 3 July 2018 This provision is an instruction to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to hold families that cross the border. — Gregory Korte, USA TODAY, "Anatomy of an executive order: What President Trump’s order on family separation does," 21 June 2018 The provision was included on a list of amendments that is backed by both Republicans and Democrats. — Fortune, "ZTE Shares Are Trading Again After Its Sanctions Deal With Trump. The Bad News? They're Tanking," 13 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Thus provisioned, Hyundai’s mini-ute outdistances the Bolt (238 miles), the Jaguar I-Pace (234) and even comes within a whisker of Tesla’s base Model 3 (260). — Dan Neil, WSJ, "2019 Hyundai Kona Electric: Good EVs Are No Longer Shocking," 1 Nov. 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, 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

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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