What does "ready" mean?
Ready money; cash.
Ready
/ˈɹɛd.i/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Ready money; cash.
- Grammar: ready is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: about, abrupt, accessible, accessible.
- Useful contrasts: unreadied, unready, busy status.
- Usage evidence: It will take five to ten years for the technology to be ready.
How to use "ready"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "ready" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "ready" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "ready" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "ready" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "ready" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "about" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "ready", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Ready money; cash. countable, slang, uncountable
"[H]e vvas not fluſh in Ready, either to go to Lavv or clear old Debts, neither could he find good Bail: […]"
- 2 poised for action wordnet
Verb
- 1 To prepare; to make ready for action. transitive
"Immigration agents in military green surrounded MacArthur Park as the convoy readied for a show of force akin to a Hollywood movie."
- 2 make ready or suitable or equip in advance for a particular purpose or for some use, event, etc wordnet
- 3 prepare for eating by applying heat wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Prepared for immediate action or use.
"I made ready to set out on my journey."
- 2 Prepared for immediate action or use.; first only used predicatively, freely used from the end of the 17th century
"a loaf of ready-sliced bread"
- 3 Inclined; apt to happen.
- 4 Liable at any moment.
"The seed is ready to sprout."
- 5 Not slow or hesitating; quick in action or perception of any kind.
"a ready apprehension"
Show 1 more definition
- 6 Offering itself at once; at hand; opportune; convenient.
"Through the wilde Deſert, not the readieſt way,"
Adjective
- 1 (of especially money) immediately available wordnet
- 2 apprehending and responding with speed and sensitivity wordnet
- 3 made suitable and available for immediate use wordnet
- 4 completely prepared or in condition for immediate action or use or progress wordnet
- 5 mentally disposed wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 2 An unincorporated community in Grayson County, Kentucky, United States. countable, uncountable
Example
"It will take five to ten years for the technology to be ready."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "ready"?
Common synonyms include: about, abrupt, accessible, accessible, accordant, acquiescent.
How do you use "ready" in a sentence?
It will take five to ten years for the technology to be ready.
How do you pronounce "ready"?
Pronounced /ˈɹɛd.i/.
Etymology
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”).