Synonym for "fully supply" or "top off the missing part"?

May 13, 2017 2:33 PM

Is there a one-word synonym for "fully supply?" The context would be meeting the needs of something in such a way that it brings a material deficiency to a sufficient amount, but not excess. Like army supplies, grocery store shelves, that kind of thing. A more wordy answer would be "topping off the missing part." I can find words that come close, but don't quite hit it. For example, "restock" may apply to store shelves, but isn't broad enough to cover all instances of this concept. Thanks for the help!
posted by SpacemanStix to Writing & Language (22 answers total)

Perhaps replenish? Because your definition is exactly what I think of when I use it.
posted by Tchad at 2:36 PM on May 13, 2017 [5 favorites]

Replenish
posted by kapers at 2:36 PM on May 13, 2017 [2 favorites]

Complete.
posted by windykites at 2:52 PM on May 13, 2017

Response by poster: Okay, yes, replenish is pretty close. Here's a bit of a clarification. I'm realizing that another use I need to cover is when something is deficient, but has never been made sufficient. Replenish, it seems to me, assumes a prior sufficiency. Is there a word that would include situations in which something is not materially whole (say, a situation of inherited poverty), but you would like to bring it to material wholeness or completeness/sufficiency? So a word that includes both possible scenarios: re-supplying-to-fullness or initially supplying-to-fullness. A practical example: if I fill half of a drink glass, I don't know if it wasn't filled properly in the first place, or needs to be replenished. What word would I use to describe my action? Does one even exist?
posted by SpacemanStix at 3:17 PM on May 13, 2017

Best answer: "Plenish" is a word.
posted by rhizome at 3:25 PM on May 13, 2017 [2 favorites]

Top up?
two words, but short
posted by pipeski at 3:26 PM on May 13, 2017

I like "top up" also.

"Provision" might work.
posted by grobstein at 3:31 PM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

Fill?
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:34 PM on May 13, 2017 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I think plenish will do it. I like "top up" as well to get at the concept, but it's an academic use that requires something more formal. Fill is perhaps a bit value neutral. I'm hoping to convey a positive judgment to the action, and I think plenish gets at it.

Thanks!
posted by SpacemanStix at 3:44 PM on May 13, 2017

That's fine as long as you are okay with using a word that your audience has never seen before and will never see again in their lives.
posted by grobstein at 3:48 PM on May 13, 2017 [13 favorites]

Response by poster: I think it'll be okay. Part of the discussion will be determining what kind of word would best suit this concept, as historically, most words have come up short.
posted by SpacemanStix at 3:51 PM on May 13, 2017

Best answer: Remediate? I'm thinking in the context of paying off a debt or making up for a deficit. As in, fixing a problem, which doesn't necessarily imply that it hasn't always been a problem. In the drinking glass example, you don't really remediate the glass, but you DO remediate the emptiness, by filling it.
posted by ctmf at 3:58 PM on May 13, 2017

Satisfy. Fulfill.
posted by rio at 4:03 PM on May 13, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: you don't really remediate the glass, but you DO remediate the emptiness, by filling it

In fact, if you recontextualize to be talking about the problem, not the thing, almost any word works. There's a gap between what's required and what exists. You fill the gap or eliminate the gap.
posted by ctmf at 4:07 PM on May 13, 2017

In our contracting process this is a "keep full" order, generally applied to things like av gas tank or fuel tanks that get used a lot or will be used a lot seasonally (so might be half empty at the time of the order). Does what it says on the tin.
posted by fshgrl at 4:08 PM on May 13, 2017

Charge. Load.
posted by adamrice at 5:21 PM on May 13, 2017

Resupply.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 5:26 PM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

Satisfice.
posted by at at 5:30 PM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

I thought about "provision" as well. We use it in IT/server/telecomm contexts as in "make the equipment/environment ready for use."
posted by randomkeystrike at 5:53 PM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

"Make whole" is used in legal- and insurance-type contexts for this, I think.
posted by novelgazer at 7:12 PM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

Personally I like "reconstitute".
posted by forforf at 8:12 PM on May 13, 2017

Response by poster: "Make whole" is used in legal- and insurance-type contexts for this, I think.

That reminds me that "indemnify" might come close, too. It's usually used in insurance to mean "make whole" after loss, but it can also mean to protect against initial loss, I think.

Thanks, everyone, for the good suggestions.
posted by SpacemanStix at 1:27 PM on May 14, 2017