ready — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Prepared for immediate action or use.

   Examples

   Dinner is ready.

   I made ready to set out on my journey.

   The troops are ready for battle.

   More examples (4)

   The porridge is ready to serve.

   If need be, I am ready to forego / And quit:

   she was told dinner was ready

   Miranda: I'll admit it, Shepard. I'm impressed. You got us here. Are you ready? Shepard: We're going in blind, and we don't even know if we'll survive the trip. No way in hell we're ready... but we don't have a choice.

2. Prepared for immediate action or use. first only used predicatively, freely used from the end of the 17th century

   Examples

   a loaf of ready-sliced bread

   The cave was like a ready-made home for us.

   More examples (4)

   First their must be a clericall tonſure whereas they clyp thꝛee oꝛ fowꝛe lyttle heaires in his crowne, and he muſt[…]be hold a Priest ready made able to haue a benefice,[…]

   But you muſt take a body ready made, Pug I can create you none[…]

   […]and whoever can keep their Corps till they can ſend to London, and have a ready-made Coffin ſent down, may afterwards have them kept any reaſonable time.

   […]but, in the improvement of a place in which Nature has furnished few materials in which the groundwork of improvement is tame, and in which suitable diſtances cannot be had, the rules of ſcience and the "ready-made taste" of connoiſſeurs are of little avail to the artiſt.

3. Inclined; apt to happen.

4. Liable at any moment.

   Synonyms

   fit

   Examples

   The seed is ready to sprout.

   My heart is ready to crack.

5. Not slow or hesitating; quick in action or perception of any kind.

   Synonyms

   dexterousprompteasyexpert

   Examples

   a ready apprehension

   ready wit

   More examples (6)

   a ready writer or workman

   whose temper was ready, though surly

   ready in devising expedients

   Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes.

   "Apple of Death" is what the Jungle call thorn-apple or dhatura, the readiest poison in all India.

   The [Washington] Post's proprietor through those turbulent [Watergate] days, Katharine Graham, held a double place in Washington’s hierarchy: at once regal Georgetown hostess and scrappy newshound, ready to hold the establishment to account.

6. Offering itself at once; at hand; opportune; convenient.

   Examples

   Through the wilde Deſert, not the readieſt way,

   A sapling pine he wrenched from out the ground, / The readiest weapon that his fury found.

Verb

1. To prepare; to make ready for action.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   yarkprime

   Examples

   Immigration agents in military green surrounded MacArthur Park as the convoy readied for a show of force akin to a Hollywood movie.

Noun

1. Ready money; cash.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Slang
   • Uncountable

   Related words

   already

   Examples

   [H]e vvas not fluſh in Ready, either to go to Lavv or clear old Debts, neither could he find good Bail: […]

   More examples (1)

   But it's no secret that W. & S. have been getting short of the ready for more than a year now; it's claimed that the fire began in three or four places at once; and Mr Barrowford was the last to leave the premises.

   […] he was generous when he had the cash. Many a time he kept me going in drink through the week when I was stuck for the ready […]

Adjective

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

   Antonyms

   unready

   Examples

   get ready

   she is ready to resign

   More examples (6)

   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

2. (of especially money) immediately available

   Examples

   he seems to have ample ready money

   a ready source of cash

3. mentally disposed

   Examples

   he was ready to believe her

4. made suitable and available for immediate use

   Examples

   dinner is ready

5. apprehending and responding with speed and sensitivity

   Synonyms

   quick

   Examples

   a quick mind

   a ready wit

Noun

1. poised for action

   Broader terms

   readinesspreparednesspreparation

   Examples

   their guns were at the ready

Verb

1. prepare for eating by applying heat

   Synonyms

   cookfixmakeprepare

   Broader terms

   create from raw materialcreate from raw stuff

   Examples

   Cook me dinner, please

   can you make me an omelette?

   More examples (1)

   fix breakfast for the guests, please

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

   Synonyms

   fixprepareset upgear upset

   Broader terms

   changealtermodify

   Examples

   Get the children ready for school!

   prepare for war

   More examples (1)

   I was fixing to leave town after I paid the hotel bill