INVENTORY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does inventory mean? 

• INVENTORY (noun)
  The noun INVENTORY has 5 senses:

1. a detailed list of all the items in stock

2. the merchandise that a shop has on hand

3. (accounting) the value of a firm's current assets including raw materials and work in progress and finished goods

4. a collection of resources

5. making an itemized list of merchandise or supplies on hand

  Familiarity information: INVENTORY used as a noun is common.

• INVENTORY (verb)
  The verb INVENTORY has 1 sense:

1. make or include in an itemized record or report

  Familiarity information: INVENTORY used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INVENTORY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A detailed list of all the items in stock

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

inventory; stock list

Hypernyms ("inventory" is a kind of...):

list; listing (a database containing an ordered array of items (names or topics))

Meronyms (parts of "inventory"):

inventory item (an item listed in an inventory)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "inventory"):

parts inventory (an inventory of replacement parts)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The merchandise that a shop has on hand

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

inventory; stock

Context example:

they stopped selling in exact sizes in order to reduce inventory

Hypernyms ("inventory" is a kind of...):

merchandise; product; ware (commodities offered for sale)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(accounting) the value of a firm's current assets including raw materials and work in progress and finished goods

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("inventory" is a kind of...):

register (a book in which names and transactions are listed)

Domain category:

accounting (a system that provides quantitative information about finances)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A collection of resources

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

armory; armoury; inventory

Context example:

he dipped into his intellectual armory to find an answer

Hypernyms ("inventory" is a kind of...):

imagination; resource; resourcefulness (the ability to deal resourcefully with unusual problems)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Making an itemized list of merchandise or supplies on hand

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

inventory; inventorying; stock-taking; stocktaking

Context example:

they held an inventory every month

Hypernyms ("inventory" is a kind of...):

itemisation; itemization; listing (the act of making a list of items)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "inventory"):

stock-take; stocktake (an instance of stocktaking)

• INVENTORY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they inventory    ... he / she / it inventories   
Past simple: inventoried   
Past participle: inventoried   
-ing form: inventorying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make or include in an itemized record or report

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

inventory; stock-take; take stock

Context example:

Inventory all books before the end of the year

Hypernyms (to "inventory" is one way to...):

list (include in a list)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

inventorying (making an itemized list of merchandise or supplies on hand)

 Context examples 

Mojzsis thought that by studying Mars' metallic element inventory, he might be able to better understand its mysteries.

(Ancient Asteroid Impact Explains Martian Geological Mysteries, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The study's inventory of data sources includes 20,376 sampling efforts on bacteria, archaea and microscopic fungi, as well as 14,862 sampling efforts on communities of trees, birds and mammals.

(Researchers find that Earth may be home to 1 trillion species, NSF)

The group used genomic techniques to create a comprehensive inventory of the microbes in the samples.

(Skin microbes fairly stable over time, NIH)

An inventory of linen, in coarse and modern characters, seemed all that was before her!

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The inventory of plant species was carried out by scientists from the eight countries covered by the Amazon rainforest, along with colleagues from the United States and Europe.

(Inventory revises down Amazon tree species list, SciDev.Net)

It's surprising that a major group of marine algae succeeded after losing much of its genetic inventory.

(Red seaweeds, including those in sushi, thrive despite ancestor's loss of genes, National Science Foundation)

Test names of questionnaire questions associated with the short-form brief pain inventory for the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) Standard Data Tabulation Model (SDTM).

(CDISC Questionnaire BPI Short Form Test Name Terminology, NCI Thesaurus)

Transfusing the oldest red cells in the stored inventory first is standard practice among many hospitals.

(Fresh red blood cell transfusions do not help critically ill children more than older cells, National Institutes of Health)

Test codes of questionnaire questions associated with the brief pain inventory (BPI) for the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) Standard Data Tabulation Model (SDTM).

(CDISC Questionnaire BPI Test Code Terminology, NCI Thesaurus)

A self-report inventory that measures how a person copes with problems and stress.

(Coping Style Assessment Tool, NCI Thesaurus)