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ready

UK/ˈrɛɖi/ US/ˈɹɛd.i/ very common slang
adjective (5) noun (1) verb (2)

adjective

1.

completely prepared or in condition for immediate action or use or progress

  • “get ready”
  • “she is ready to resign”
  • “the bridge is ready to collapse”
  • “I am ready to work”
  • “ready for action”
  • “ready for use”
  • “the soup will be ready in a minute”
  • “ready to learn to read”
Antonyms
Similar
2.

(of especially money) immediately available

  • “he seems to have ample ready money”
  • “a ready source of cash”
Similar
3.

mentally disposed

  • “he was ready to believe her”
Similar
4.

brought into readiness

  • “dinner is ready”
Similar
5.

flowing with little speed as e.g. at the turning of the tide

  • “slack water”
Synonyms
Similar

noun

1.

poised for action

  • “their guns were at the ready”

verb

1.

prepare for eating by applying heat

  • “Cook me dinner, please”
  • “can you make me an omelette?”
  • “fix breakfast for the guests, please”
Synonyms
2.

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

  • “Get the children ready for school!”
  • “prepare for war”
  • “I was fixing to leave town after I paid the hotel bill”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English redy, redi, rædiȝ, iredi, ȝerǣdi, alteration ( + -y) of earlier irēd, irede, ȝerād (“ready, prepared”), from Old English rǣde, ġerǣde (also ġerȳde) ("prepared, prompt, ready, ready for riding (horse), mounted (on a horse), skilled, simple, easy"), from Proto-Germanic *garaidijaz, *raidijaz, from base *raidaz (“ready”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂reh₁dʰ-, *h₂reh₁- (“to count, put in order, arrange, make comfortable”) and also probably conflated with Proto-Indo-European *reydʰ- (“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”), Norwegian reiug (“ready, prepared”), Icelandic greiður (“easy, light”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌸𐍃 (garaiþs, “arranged, ordered”).

Phrases

  • at the ready
  • camera ready
  • dinner's ready
  • get ready
  • my body is ready
  • on the ready
  • ready about
  • ready and waiting

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.