SUFFICE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does suffice mean? 

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

1. be sufficient; be adequate, either in quality or quantity

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

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUFFICE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they suffice    ... he / she / it suffices   
Past simple: sufficed   
Past participle: sufficed   
-ing form: sufficing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be sufficient; be adequate, either in quality or quantity

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

answer; do; serve; suffice

Context example:

Nothing else will serve

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

fulfil; fulfill; live up to; satisfy (meet the requirements or expectations of)

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

bridge over; keep going; tide over (suffice for a period between two points)

go a long way (suffice or be adequate for a while or to a certain extent)

function; serve (serve a purpose, role, or function)

measure up; qualify (prove capable or fit; meet requirements)

go around (be sufficient)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
It ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

sufficiency (the quality of being sufficient for the end in view)

sufficiency (an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose)

sufficiency (sufficient resources to provide comfort and meet obligations)

sufficient (of a quantity that can fulfill a need or requirement but without being abundant)

 Context examples 

Another meeting will suffice to explain his sentiments on picturesque beauty, and second marriages, and then you can have nothing farther to ask.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

She is mine—I am hers—this present life and passing world suffice to me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Any room in this house might suffice.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Some general indications will therefore suffice.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Nay, but this will scarce suffice,” cried the shipman.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A moment sufficed to convince her that something extraordinary had happened.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

You have work, much work, to do for her and for others; and the present will suffice.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

A small taper on the edge of the table shed a feeble light which sufficed to show me that he was fully dressed.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A few minutes sufficed to finish the loading, and I lowered the boat into the water.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Uranus rules all things that happen that you’d never expect, so suffice to say, simmer any new relationship on low until you know one another better.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)