PREPARE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does prepare mean? 

• PREPARE (verb)
  The verb PREPARE has 8 senses:

1. make ready or suitable or equip in advance for a particular purpose or for some use, event, etc

2. prepare for eating by applying heat

3. to prepare verbally, either for written or spoken delivery

4. arrange by systematic planning and united effort

5. educate for a future role or function

6. create by training and teaching

7. lead up to and soften by sounding the dissonant note in it as a consonant note in the preceding chord

8. undergo training or instruction in preparation for a particular role, function, or profession

  Familiarity information: PREPARE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PREPARE (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make ready or suitable or equip in advance for a particular purpose or for some use, event, etc

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

fix; gear up; prepare; ready; set; set up

Context example:

I was fixing to leave town after I paid the hotel bill

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

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "prepare"):

provide (take measures in preparation for)

socialise; socialize (prepare for social life)

brace; poise (prepare (oneself) for something unpleasant or difficult)

crop; cultivate; work (prepare for crops)

prime (insert a primer into (a gun, mine, or charge) preparatory to detonation or firing)

summerise; summerize (prepare for summer)

winterise; winterize (prepare for winter)

lay out; set; set up (get ready for a particular purpose or event)

mount (fix onto a backing, setting, or support)

fix (kill, preserve, and harden (tissue) in order to prepare for microscopic study)

precondition (put into the required condition beforehand)

cram (prepare (students) hastily for an impending exam)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

preparation (the activity of putting or setting in order in advance of some act or purpose)

preparation (the state of having been made ready or prepared for use or action (especially military action))

preparative; preparatory (preceding and preparing for something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Prepare for eating by applying heat

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

cook; fix; make; prepare; ready

Context example:

fix breakfast for the guests, please

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

create from raw material; create from raw stuff (make from scratch)

Verb group:

make (gather and light the materials for)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "prepare"):

keep; preserve (prevent (food) from rotting)

dress; dress out (kill and prepare for market or consumption)

deglaze (dissolve cooking juices or solid food in (a pan) by adding liquid and stirring)

escallop; scallop (bake in a sauce, milk, etc., often with breadcrumbs on top)

flambe (pour liquor over and ignite (a dish))

put on (put on the stove or ready for cooking)

devil (coat or stuff with a spicy paste)

precook (cook beforehand so that the actual preparation won't take long)

whip up; whomp up (prepare or cook quickly or hastily)

concoct; cook up (prepare or cook by mixing ingredients)

lard (prepare or cook with lard)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

The chefs prepare the vegetables

Derivation:

preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)

Sense 3

Meaning:

To prepare verbally, either for written or spoken delivery

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

prepare a speech

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

create; make (make or cause to be or to become)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "prepare"):

rough; rough in; rough out (prepare in preliminary or sketchy form)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Arrange by systematic planning and united effort

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

devise; get up; machinate; organise; organize; prepare

Context example:

devise a plan to take over the director's office

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

initiate; pioneer (take the lead or initiative in; participate in the development of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "prepare"):

mount; put on (prepare and supply with the necessary equipment for execution or performance)

embattle (prepare for battle or conflict)

spatchcock (prepare for eating if or as if a spatchcock)

sandwich (make into a sandwich)

set up (begin, or enable someone else to begin, a venture by providing the means, logistics, etc.)

lay (prepare or position for action or operation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

preparative (preceding and preparing for something)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Educate for a future role or function

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

groom; prepare; train

Context example:

They trained him to be a warrior

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

educate (give an education to)

Verb group:

prepare; train (undergo training or instruction in preparation for a particular role, function, or profession)

develop; educate; prepare; train (create by training and teaching)

check; condition; discipline; train (develop (a child's or animal's) behavior by instruction and practice; especially to teach self-control)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "prepare"):

dispose; qualify (make fit or prepared)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

preparation (activity leading to skilled behavior)

preparative; preparatory (preceding and preparing for something)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Create by training and teaching

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

develop; educate; prepare; train

Context example:

we develop the leaders for the future

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

instruct; learn; teach (impart skills or knowledge to)

Verb group:

build up; develop (change the use of and make available or usable)

prepare; train (undergo training or instruction in preparation for a particular role, function, or profession)

groom; prepare; train (educate for a future role or function)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "prepare"):

retrain (teach new skills)

drill (train in the military, e.g., in the use of weapons)

house-train; housebreak (train (a pet) to live cleanly in a house)

toilet-train (train (a small child) to use the toilet)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

preparation (activity leading to skilled behavior)

preparatory (preceding and preparing for something)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Lead up to and soften by sounding the dissonant note in it as a consonant note in the preceding chord

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Context example:

prepare the discord in bar 139

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

sound (cause to sound)

Domain category:

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

preparation ((music) a note that produces a dissonant chord is first heard in a consonant chord)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Undergo training or instruction in preparation for a particular role, function, or profession

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

prepare; train

Context example:

He trained as a legal aid

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

learn; read; study; take (be a student of a certain subject)

Verb group:

develop; educate; prepare; train (create by training and teaching)

groom; prepare; train (educate for a future role or function)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "prepare"):

apprentice (be or work as an apprentice)

retrain (train again)

drill (undergo military training or do military exercises)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s to somebody

Derivation:

preparation (preparatory school work done outside school (especially at home))

preparatory (preceding and preparing for something)

 Context examples 

"Me has tea!" said Demi, preparing to join in the revel.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The thing to expect of them was the unexpected, and for this he must be prepared.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

It is a name to which I am prepared always to lift my hat.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“We are not prepared,” said they, “to stay with a man who kills seven at one stroke.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

You may be preparing to move into a new home or to make changes within your present home, including a plan to make repairs.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I prepared Peggotty for Steerforth's arrival and it was not long before he came.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Then, being prepared for the journey, they all started for the Emerald City; and the Winkies gave them three cheers and many good wishes to carry with them.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

By nine o'clock the next morning I was punctually opening the school; tranquil, settled, prepared for the steady duties of the day.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

And are you prepared to encounter all the horrors that a building such as 'what one reads about' may produce?

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The autologous cultured AML-specific CTLs are prepared using a specific AML-CTL culture method.

(Autologous Cultured Acute Myeloid Leukemia-specific Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes, NCI Thesaurus)