supplyv. t.[For older supploy, F. suppler, 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.)()n.1. The act of supplying; supplial.(A. Tucker.)2. That which supplies a want; sufficiency of things for use or want.() Auxiliary troops or renforcements.(Shak.) 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.() An amount of money provided, as by Parliament or Congress, to meet the annual national expenditures; generally in the plural; as, to vote supplies.() 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.()a. Serving to contain, deliver, or regulate a supply of anything; as, a supply tank or valve.()Supply system (Zol.), the system of tubes and canals in sponges by means of which food and water are absorbed. See Illust. of Spongi.()