What does procure mean?
Word: Procure
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Procure means to get hold of something, often with some care or effort.
Synonyms: acquire
How do you spell procure?
Syllables: pro - cure
Tricky part: The opening is pro, but it is said so lightly that pupils often write pre or per instead.
Watch out for: precure, percure, procur
Memory tip: Proper planning helps you procure what you need, and proper opens with the same three letters.
Procure in a sentence
Example 1: The hostel warden must procure extra blankets before the first snowfall.
Example 2: It took the theatre club a month to procure costumes for the whole cast.
Example 3: Our science teacher will procure fresh pond water for Monday's microscope lesson.
Fun Fact
Its Latin ancestor meant to look after something on behalf of another person. The word proxy, someone who acts for you, comes from the same source.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is misspelt. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. dispatch 2. prokure 3. estimate 4. negotiate
a) to succeed in finding something needed
b) to form a rough idea of an amount
c) to send something off to a place
d) to talk things over until both sides agree
Show answer
a) to succeed in finding something needed. A k has crept into the second word; dispatch, estimate and negotiate are fine as printed.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word procure as used in the sentence:
The chess club secretary managed to procure twenty new boards before the inter-school tournament.
a) obtain
b) repair
c) inspect
d) donate
Show answer
a) obtain. The secretary is getting the boards for the club, not giving them away or checking them.
Mingle-Mangle
Rearrange the jumbled letters in the sentence to form a word:
Our school librarian travelled to Edinburgh to ueprcor a rare atlas for the geography room.
a) pursue
b) procure
c) produce
d) prepare
Show answer
b) procure. Two r's, a c and no d, s or a: only one choice is built from those letters.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
procurre
a) e
b) c
c) r
d) o
Show answer
c) r. The ending matches the plain word for a remedy, with a single r.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The sports secretary is told to procure new cricket nets. What should she do next?
a) find a supplier and arrange to buy them
b) teach the juniors how to put up nets
c) store the old nets safely in the shed
d) measure the old nets and report the size
Show answer
a) find a supplier and arrange to buy them
2. Procure is a formal word. Where would you expect to read it?
a) in a shopping list stuck on a fridge
b) in a government notice on equipment
c) in a text message to a close friend
d) in a nursery rhyme about a farm
Show answer
b) in a government notice on equipment
