Sup*ply", a. Serving to contain,
deliver, or regulate a supply of anything; as, a supply tank or
valve.
Supply system (Zoöl.), the system
of tubes and canals in sponges by means of which food and water are
absorbed. See Illust. of Spongiæ.
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
reënforcements. "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.
Sup*ply" (?), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Supplied (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Supplying (?).] [For older supploy, F.
suppléer, 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.