Prepare

• POS: Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: pre=pare

CIDE DICTIONARY

Prepare, v. t. [F. préparer, L. praeparare; prae before + parare to make ready. See Pare.].

•  To fit, adapt, or qualify for a particular purpose or condition; to make ready; to put into a state for use or application; as, to prepare ground for seed; to prepare a lesson.  [1913 Webster]

  "Our souls, not yet prepared for upper light."  [1913 Webster]
•  To procure as suitable or necessary; to get ready; to provide; as, to prepare ammunition and provisions for troops; to prepare ships for defence; to prepare an entertainment.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]

  "That they may prepare a city for habitation."  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- To fit; adjust; adapt; qualify; equip; provide; form; make; make; ready.

Prepare, v. i. 

•  To make all things ready; to put things in order; as, to prepare for a hostile invasion.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  To make one's self ready; to get ready; to take the necessary previous measures; as, to prepare for death.  [1913 Webster]

Prepare, n. 

 Preparation.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Prepare, v.
1 tr. make or get ready for use, consideration, etc.
2 tr. make ready or assemble (food, a meal, etc.) for eating.
3 a tr. make (a person or oneself) ready or disposed in some way (prepares students for university; prepared them for a shock). b intr. put oneself or things in readiness, get ready (prepare to jump).
4 tr. make (a chemical product etc.) by a regular process.
5 tr. Mus. lead up to (a discord).

Idiom

be prepared (often foll. by for, or to + infin.) be disposed or willing to.

Derivative

preparer n.

Etymology

ME f. F pr{eacute}parer or L praeparare (as PRAE-, parare make ready)

THESAURUS

Prepare

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

ROGET THESAURUS

Prepare

Plan

VB plan, scheme, design, frame, contrive, project, forecast, sketch, devise, invent, set one's wits to work, spring a project, fall upon, hit upon, strike out, chalk out, cut out, lay out, map out, lay down a plan, shape out a course, mark out a course, predetermine, concert, preconcert, preestablish, prepare, hatch, hatch a plot concoct, take steps, take measures, cast, recast, systematize, organize, arrange, digest, mature, plot, counter-plot, counter-mine, dig a mine, lay a train, intrigue.

Preparation

VB prepare, get ready, make ready, make preparations, settle preliminaries, get up, sound the note of preparation, set in order, put in order, forecast, prepare the ground, plow the ground, dress the ground, till the soil, cultivate the soil, predispose, sow the seed, lay a train, dig a mine, lay the groundwork, fix the groundwork, lay the basis, fix the basis, lay the foundations, fix the foundations, dig the foundations, erect the scaffolding, lay the first stone, roughhew, cut out work, block out, hammer out, lick into shape, elaborate, mature, ripen, mellow, season, bring to maturity, nurture, hatch, cook, brew, temper, anneal, smelt, barbecue, infumate, maturate, equip, arm, man, fit-out, fit up, furnish, rig, dress, garnish, betrim, accouter, array, fettle, fledge, dress up, furbish up, brush up, vamp up, refurbish, sharpen one's tools, trim one's foils, set, prime, attune, whet the knife, whet the sword, wind up, screw up, adjust, put in trim, put in train, put in gear, put in working order, put in tune, put in a groove for, put in harness, pack, train, inure, breed, prepare for, rehearse, make provision for, take steps, take measures, take precautions, provide, provide against, beat up for recruits, open the door to, set one's house in order, make all snug, clear the decks, clear for action, close one's ranks, shuffle the cards, prepare oneself, serve an apprenticeship, lay oneself out for, get into harness, gird up one's loins, buckle on one's armor, reculer pour mieux sauter, prime and load, shoulder arms, get the steam up, put the horses to, guard against, make sure against, forearm, make sure, prepare for the evil day, have a rod in pickle, provide against a rainy day, feather one's nest, lay in provisions, make investments, keep on foot, be prepared, be ready, hold oneself in readiness, keep one's powder dry, lie in wait for, anticipate, principiis obstare, veniente occurrere morbo.

Teaching

VB teach, instruct, educate, edify, school, tutor, cram, prime, coach, enlighten, inculcate, indoctrinate, inoculate, infuse, instill, infix, ingraft, infiltrate, imbue, impregnate, implant, graft, sow the seeds of, disseminate, given an idea of, put up to, put in the way of, set right, sharpen the wits, enlarge the mind, give new ideas, open the eyes, bring forward, teach the young idea how to shoot, improve, expound, lecture, read a lesson, give a lesson, give a lecture, give a sermon, give a discourse, incept, hold forth, preach, sermonize, moralize, point a moral, train, discipline, bring up, bring up to, form, ground, prepare, qualify, drill, exercise, practice, habituate, familiarize with, nurture, drynurse, breed, rear, take in hand, break, break in, tame, preinstruct, initiate, inure, put to nurse, send to school, direct, guide, direct attention to, impress upon the mind, impress upon the memory, beat into, beat into the head, convince, book, workbook, exercise book, preach to the wise, teach one's grandmother to suck eggs, teach granny to suck eggs, preach to the converted.