equip

Formsequips, equipping, equipped

1. 1
   verbtransitive

   To supply someone or something with the items needed to carry out a particular action or task.

   Like a quartermaster stocking a ship with every supply it needs before it sets sail.

   The expedition leaders equipped each team with maps, ropes, and emergency rations.

   Volunteers helped equip the shelter with beds and blankets before winter set in.

   Similarsupply, provide, furnish, outfit, fit

   Note

   The word began on the water. French équiper meant fitting out a ship, and behind it lies Old Norse skipa, "to man a ship," from the same Germanic root as ship itself. Edmund Ludlow's Memoirs still speak of equipping a considerable fleet. The working pattern is equip someone or something with the gear, and the passive is just as common: a plate equipped with a pointer, a coastguard paid and equipped.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To prepare someone by giving them a skill or ability they will need.

   The training program equips new nurses with the clinical judgment they need under pressure.

   Experienced mentors equip young engineers to handle real-world design challenges.

   Similarprepare, arm, train, provide, qualify

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To dress or clothe someone, especially in fine or formal attire.

   The royal household equipped the bride in silk and jewels for the ceremony.

   Attendants equip the dancers in elaborate costumes before each performance.

   Similardress, clothe, attire, outfit, array

   Note

   Clothing changes the preposition. Addison and Steele, writing in 1711, mock country people "equipped in a ridiculous habit" when they think themselves in fashion. The construction is the quickest way to tell this sense from the supplying sense: a person is equipped in clothes but equipped with tools. Here the word carries a hint of show, of being got up for display.

4. 4
   verbtransitive

   In a video game, to bring an item into active use by assigning it to a character.

   Players equip their strongest armor before entering the dungeon.

   He equipped the new shield he found in the treasure chest.

   Note

   Gaming turns the grammar around. Ordinary usage equips a person with an item, but players equip the item itself: "equip your sword and attack it at close range." The object is the gear, and the character who gains it goes unmentioned. In strategy guides and game menus, this verb marks the moment an item stops sitting in the inventory and starts doing work.

5. 5
   nounslanguncountable

   The gear or items a game character carries or has ready to use.

   Players grind for hours to upgrade their equip.

   Her equip wasn't strong enough to survive the boss.

   Similargear, equipment

   Note

   A clipped noun from the same world as the gaming verb, used as players' slang for equipment. It is a mass noun, like gear: you upgrade your equip, but you do not count equips. Because it is slang, it belongs in game chat and forums. In written reviews or formal prose, equipment or gear is the safer choice.

Showing meanings only. Show all 5