Meaning & use
procure
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To get hold of something, usually through effort, careful arrangement or an official buying process.
Grammar: Takes an object: procure supplies. A second object can follow: procure him a ticket.
Patterns
- procure something
- procure something for someone
- procure someone something
The hospital must procure enough vaccines before winter.
She managed to procure two tickets for the sold-out concert.
The council procures its stationery from a single supplier.
verbtransitivelegalformal
To arrange for someone to provide sexual services, which is a legal offense in many places.
Grammar: Takes an object, usually in legal language about a crime.
Patterns
- procure someone for something
He was charged with procuring women for paid sex.
The law forbids procuring anyone for prostitution.
Courts treat procuring as a serious offense in many countries.
Word forms
| third person singular | procures |
|---|---|
| past tense | procured |
| past participle | procured |
| -ing form | procuring |
Common combinations
- procure supplies
- The team had to procure supplies before the expedition.
- procure funding
- The charity struggled to procure funding for the new clinic.
- procure a license
- Exporters must procure a license for each shipment.
- procure goods and services
- The ministry procures goods and services through open tender.
- difficult to procure
- Rare parts were difficult to procure after the factory closed.
Synonyms and how they differ
- obtain
- Obtain is the neutral formal verb and fits almost any context, while procure suggests deliberate effort or an organized process.
- acquire
- Acquire can describe things gained slowly or by chance, such as a habit, whereas procure points to a planned effort to get something.
- secure
- Secure stresses getting something safely or against competition, like a contract, rather than the process of buying.
- get
- Get is the everyday word and is too casual for an official purchasing report.
Opposites
Word family
- procurement noun
- the process of buying goods or services for an organization
- procurer noun
- a person who obtains something, or in law one who arranges prostitution
- procurable adjective
- able to be obtained
Commonly confused: procure or procreate?
procure vs procreate
Procreate means to produce offspring, and it has nothing to do with obtaining objects.
Practice
The department hired a specialist to ____ medical equipment at the lowest possible price.
Choose one answer.
Procure means to obtain, which fits buying equipment. Procreate, prosecute and proclaim have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “procure”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.