provision

noun pro·vi·sion \ prə-ˈvi-zhən \

|Updated on: 3 Aug 2018

Examples: provision in a Sentence

Definition of provision

1 a : 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

See provision defined for English-language learners

See provision defined for kids

Examples of provision in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples of provision from the Web

But the provisions, which require most adults to work part-time or enroll in job training as a condition of receiving benefits, stand little chance of passing the Senate in a compromise bill.

— jeff stein and tracy jan, chicagotribune.com, "White House declares war on poverty 'largely over' amid push to revamp social programs," 14 July 2018
But in fact, hard cases involve competing constitutional provisions, values, and precedents, all of which the justices have to weigh.

— carolyn shapiro, Fortune, "Brett Kavanaugh Said Judges Should Just Follow the Law. Here’s Why That’s Bull," 10 July 2018
The Thunder will look to either trade the 34-year-old or waive him and use the stretch provision, which would allow the team to spread out his payments over the next three years and save up to $94 million in taxes.

— charles curtis, For The Win, "Where should Carmelo Anthony go next?," 6 July 2018
The hemp provisions, which aren’t in the House farm bill that passed Thursday, also have to survive negotiations over the final version of the reauthorization measure.

— william l. spence, idahostatesman, "Congress has moved to OK this once-controversial crop, and Idaho could benefit bigtime," 4 July 2018
Paxton’s suit takes aim at that provision and others.

— austin horn, San Antonio Express-News, "With ACA under attack, a family racked by illness wonders what will happen to their health coverage," 13 July 2018
That provision was included to prevent members from devoting all of their defense budgets to personnel and using military spending as a jobs program.

— michael r. gordon, WSJ, "NATO’s 2% Target: Why the U.S. Pushed Allies to Spend More on the Military," 12 July 2018
Eleven left-leaning states have used that provision to raise more than $200 million a year for unions by taking it from health workers who often didn't even realize it, according to top GOP officials.

— gregg re, Fox News, "Trump administration to dump Obama-era rule allowing unions to siphon Medicaid money," 10 July 2018
Gone from trespass law is a provision that once required most landowners to post private property with signs or orange paint every 660 feet.

— eric barker, idahostatesman, "Headed outdoors? Make sure you know about Idaho's new trespassing law," 9 July 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.

Origin and Etymology of provision

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

provision Synonyms

Other Food Terms

Reuben, calamari, chuck, curry, edamame, foie gras, hummus, leaven, nonpareil, peel

provision

verb pro·vi·sion \ prə-ˈvi-zhən \

Definition of provision

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

transitive verb

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

See provision defined for English-language learners

Examples of provision in a Sentence

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 of provision from the Web

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