Dictionary Definition
prepare
Verb
1 make ready or suitable or equip in advance for
a particular purpose or for some use, event, etc; "Get the children
ready for school!"; "prepare for war"; "I was fixing to leave town
after I paid the hotel bill" [syn: fix, set up, ready, gear up, set]
2 prepare for eating by applying heat; "Cook me
dinner, please"; "can you make me an omelette?"; "fix breakfast for
the guests, please" [syn: cook, fix, ready, make]
3 to prepare verbally, either for written or
spoken delivery; "prepare a report"; "prepare a speech"
4 arrange by systematic planning and united
effort; "machinate a plot"; "organize a strike"; "devise a plan to
take over the director's office" [syn: organize, organise, devise, get up, machinate]
5 prepare (someone) for a future role or
function; "He is grooming his son to become his successor"; "The
prince was prepared to become King one day"; "They trained him to
be a warrior" [syn: groom,
train]
6 create by training and teaching; "The old
master is training world-class violinists"; "we develop the leaders
for the future" [syn: train, develop, educate]
7 lead up to and soften by sounding the dissonant
note in it as a consonant note in the preceding chord; "prepare the
discord in bar 139"
8 undergo training or instruction in preparation
for a particular role, function, or profession; "She is training to
be a teacher"; "He trained as a legal aid" [syn: train]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
From Middle French préparer, from classical Latin praeparāre ‘make ready in advance’, from prae- ‘pre-’ + parāre ‘make ready’.Pronunciation
- (UK) /pɹɪˈpɛː/
- (US) /pɻiˈpɛ(ə)ɻ/, /pɻəˈpɛ(ə)ɻ/
Verb
- To make ready for a
specific future
purpose.
- We prepared the spacecraft for takeoff.
- To make ready for eating or drinking; to cook.
- We prepared a fish for dinner.
- To make oneself
ready; to get ready, make preparation.
- We prepared for a bumpy ride.
- To produce or make by combining elements; to synthesize, compound.
- She prepared a meal from what was left in the cupboards.
Usage notes
- This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Translations
to make ready for a specific future purpose
- Arabic:
- Chinese: 准备 (zhǔnbèi)
- Czech: připravit
- Dutch: voorbereiden
- Finnish: valmistella
- French: préparer
- German: vorbereiten
- Hungarian: előkészíteni, elkészíteni
- Italian: preparare
- Japanese: 準備する (じゅんびする, jumbi suru)
- Korean: 준비하다 (junbihada), 마견하다 (maryeonhada)
- Portuguese: preparar
- Russian: готовить (gotóvit’), подготовить (podgotóvit’)
- Spanish: preparar
- Swedish: förbereda
to make ready for eating or drinking
- Czech: připravit
- Finnish: valmistaa
- German: zubereiten
- Russian: готовить (gotóvit’), приготовить (prigotóvit’)
- Swedish: förbereda
to make oneself ready
- Czech: připravit se
- Finnish: valmistautua
- Hungarian: felkészülni, készülni, előkészülni
- Russian: готовиться (gotóvit’s’a), подготовиться (podgotóvit’s’a)
- Swedish: förbereda sig
to produce by combining elements
- ttbc Scottish Gaelic: ullaich
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
accommodate, accouter, adapt, afford, appoint, apprentice, arm, arrange, arrange for, assemble, author, bake, barbecue, baste, be about to, blanch, boil, brace, braise, break, break in, breed, brew, brief, bring up, broil, brown, build, cast, change, clear for action, clear
the decks, clothe,
coauthor, coddle, collaborate, compose, compound, concoct, condition, consider every
angle, construct,
contribute, cook, cook up, cram, create, cultivate, cure, curry, dash off, deploy, develop, devil, devise, discipline, dispose, do, do to perfection, donate, dower, dress, drill, editorialize, educate, elaborate, endow, endue, equip, erect, evolve, exercise, extrude, fabricate, fashion, fetch up, fill, fill up, find, fire, fit, fit out, fit up, fix, fix to, fix up, forearm, forge, form, formulate, fortify, foster, frame, free-lance, fricassee, frizz, frizzle, fry, fudge together, fund, furnish, gear, get, get ready, get ready to, get
set for, get up, ghost,
ghostwrite, give, griddle, grill, groom, guard against, heat, hedge, heel, house-train, housebreak, improve, indite, invest, keep, knock off, knock out, lay by,
leave out nothing, lick into shape, look out for, maintain, make, make arrangements, make
available, make preparations, make provision for, make ready, make
sure, make sure against, make up, man, manufacture, marshal, mature, mobilize, modify, mold, mould, munition, novelize, nurse, nurture, organize, outfit, oven-bake, overlook no
possibility, pamphleteer, pan, pan-broil, parboil, patch together, piece
together, plan, play safe,
poach, practice, prearrange, predispose, prefabricate, prep, prepare food, prepare for,
present, pretreat, prime, process, produce, provide, provide a hedge,
provide against, provide for, put in order, put in shape, put in
tune, put out, put to school, put together, put up, raise, ready, ready up, rear, recruit, reef down, rehearse, replenish, rig, rig out, rig up, roast, run up, saute, scallop, scenarize, sear, send to school, set up,
settle preliminaries, shape, shirr, shorten sail, simmer, staff, steam, steel, stew, stir-fry, stock, store, strengthen, study, subsidize, supply, support, swot, take in hand, take measures,
take precautions, take steps, tan, teach, throw on paper, toast, train, transform, treat, trim, try out, turn out, whip up,
whomp up, write, yield