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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Purvey

Pur-vey', v. t.

verbtransitive

(-vā'), v. t. [imp. & p. p. PURVEYED (-vād'); p. pr. & vb. n. PURVEYING.] [Fr. pourvoir, O. Fr. proveoir, porveoir, porveeir, porveer, Sp. proveer, It. provvedere, Lat. providere. See PROVIDE.]

Sense 1. To furnish or provide, as with a convenience, provisions, or the like.

Give no odds to your foes, but do purvey Yourself of swords before that bloody day. Spencer.

Sense 2. To procure; to get.

I mean to purvey me a wife, after the fashion of the children of Benjamin. W. Scott.

Pur-vey', v. i.

verbintransitive

(-vā'), v. i. 1. To purchase provisions; to provide. Milton. 2. To pander; — with to. [Rare.] Their turpitude purveys to their malice. Burke.