I. read ‧ y 1 S1 W2 /ˈredi/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ readiness , the ready; adverb : ↑ readily , ↑ ready ; verb : ↑ ready ; adjective : ↑ ready ]
[ Date: 1100-1200 ; Language: Old English ; Origin: ræde 'prepared' ]
1 . PREPARED [not before noun] if you are ready, you are prepared for what you are going to do:
Come on. Aren’t you ready yet?
When the doorbell rang he was ready and waiting.
ready to do something
Everything’s packed, and we’re ready to leave.
ready for
I don’t feel that I’m ready for my driving test yet.
I felt strong, fit, and ready for anything.
ready with
At the end of the lecture, I was ready with questions.
Why does it take you so long to get ready to go out?
make ready (=prepare to start doing something)
We made ready for our journey home.
when you’re ready (=said to tell someone that you are ready for them to start doing something)
ready when you are (=said to tell someone that you are ready to do what you have arranged to do together) ⇨ ↑ prepare
2 . FOR IMMEDIATE USE [not before noun] if something is ready, someone has prepared it and you can use it immediately:
When will supper be ready?
ready to use/eat etc
The computer is now set up and ready to use.
ready for
Is everything ready for the exhibition?
I’ve got to get a room ready for our guests.
3 . have something ready to have something near you so that you can use it if you need to:
I had my calculator ready.
4 . be/feel ready for something spoken to need or want something as soon as possible:
I’m really ready for a vacation.
5 . be ready to do something informal to be likely to do something soon:
She looked ready to burst into tears.
6 . WILLING [not before noun] very willing to do something
ready to do something
He was always ready to help us.
She was ready and willing to work hard.
7 . QUICK [only before noun] available or coming without delay:
They need to have ready access to police files.
a ready supply of drink
I had no ready answer to his question.
an intelligent man with a ready wit
8 . ready money/cash money that you can spend immediately:
The company is short of ready cash.
9 . ready, steady, go! British English , get ready, get set, go! American English spoken used to tell people to start a race
⇨ ↑ readily , ↑ readiness , ⇨ rough and ready at ↑ rough 1 (15)
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THESAURUS
▪ ready [not before noun] having done everything that needs to be done in order to prepare for something:
Are you ready? The taxi’s here.
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I don’t feel that I’m ready for the test yet.
▪ prepared [not before noun] ready to deal with a situation, because you are expecting it or have made careful preparations:
The police were prepared for trouble.
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The team looked well-prepared for the game.
▪ be all set to be ready to start doing something that you have planned to do, and be just about to do it:
We were all set for a barbecue when it started to rain.
▪ be good to go American English informal be ready to start doing something after completing all the necessary preparations:
We just need to get you a pair of skis and you’re good to go.
▪ ripe ripe fruit are soft, sweet, and ready to eat:
Don’t pick the apples until they’re really ripe.
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a delicious ripe plum
▪ be in place if the arrangements or the equipment for doing something are in place, they are ready to start being used:
The television cameras were in place for the wedding.
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All the arrangements are in place for a new constitution and democratic elections.
▪ be standing by if people are standing by, they are ready to take action and help if they are needed – used especially about medical teams, police, the army etc:
Officers in full riot gear were standing by outside the police station.
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Several ambulances were standing by.
II. ready 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle readied , present participle readying , third person singular readies ) [transitive]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ readiness , the ready; adverb : ↑ readily , ↑ ready ; verb : ↑ ready ; adjective : ↑ ready ]
formal to make something or someone ready for something SYN prepare
ready somebody/something for something
I tried to ready him for the bad news.
III. ready 3 BrE AmE noun
1 . at the ready available to be used immediately:
Soldiers stood around with weapons at the ready.
2 . the readies British English informal money that you can use immediately:
I’m getting a new car as soon as I can scrape together the readies.
IV. ready 4 BrE AmE adverb
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ readiness , the ready; adverb : ↑ readily , ↑ ready ; verb : ↑ ready ; adjective : ↑ ready ]
ready cooked/prepared etc already cooked, prepared etc by someone else:
They seem to live on ready cooked meals.