furnish

To furnish something is to get it ready by giving it what it needs. Think of an empty house: it has potential, but it needs beds, tables, chairs, and other basic things before people can really live there. You can furnish a room with furniture, but you can also furnish someone with information, tools, or help. In both cases, the idea is the same: you provide what is needed for a purpose.

The word "furnish" is about providing what is needed to make something ready, useful, or complete. People often use it for homes, rooms, and buildings. If you furnish an apartment, you put in the furniture and other things needed for living there, such as beds, tables, chairs, and lamps. "She furnished the living room in a simple style."

But "furnish" is not limited to physical things. It can also mean to provide something less tangible, such as information, proof, or support. A teacher may furnish students with useful facts, and a report may furnish evidence for an argument. In this sense, the word still carries the same core idea: giving someone or something what is needed.

It also appears in formal and legal English. To furnish proof, documents, or details means to provide them when they are required.

So whether you are talking about setting up a room or giving someone useful information, "furnish" means supplying what is needed for a clear purpose. The word often suggests usefulness and readiness, not just giving something at random.