Ready Definition

rĕdē
readied, readier, readies, readiest, readying
adjective
readier, readiest
Prepared or equipped to act or be used immediately.
Ready to go, ready for occupancy.
Webster's New World
Unhesitant; willing.
A ready worker.
Webster's New World
Likely or liable immediately.
Ready to cry.
Webster's New World
Prompt in apprehending or reacting.
A ready intelligence; a ready response.
American Heritage
Apt; inclined.
Always ready to blame others.
Webster's New World
verb
readied, readies, readying
To get or make ready; prepare.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
noun
readies
Ready money; cash at hand.
Webster's New World
idiom
at the ready
  • Available for immediate use:

    soldiers with machine guns at the ready; students with notebooks at the ready.

American Heritage
make ready
  • To make preparations.
American Heritage
at the ready
  • in a position or state of being prepared for immediate use

    to hold a gun at the ready

Webster's New World
make ready
  • to prepare; get in order
  • to dress
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Ready

Adjective

Base Form:
ready
Comparative:
readier
Superlative:
readiest

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Ready

Origin of Ready

  • From Middle English redy, redi, rædiȝ, iredi, ȝerÇ£di, alteration (+"Ž -y) of earlier irÄ“d, irede, ȝerād (“ready, prepared"), from Old English rÇ£de, Ä¡erÇ£de (also Ä¡erȳde) ("prepared, prompt, ready, ready for riding (horse), mounted (on a horse), skilled, simple, easy"), from Proto-Germanic *garaidijaz (“ready"), from Proto-Indo-European *rÄ“idh-, *rÄ“i- (“to count, put in order, arrange, make comfortable") and also probably conflated with Proto-Indo-European *reidh- (“to ride") in the sense of "set to ride, able or fit to go, ready". Cognate with Scots readie, reddy (“ready, prepared"), West Frisian ree (“ready"), Dutch gereed (“ready"), German bereit (“ready"), Danish rede (“ready"), Swedish redo (“ready, fit, prepared"), Icelandic greiður (“easy, light"), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌸𐍃 (garaiþs, “arranged, ordered").

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English redy from Old English rǣde reidh- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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