From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishprovide for somebody/something phrasal verb1 GIVEPAY FORto give someone the things they need to live, such as money, food etc Without work, how can I provide for my children?2 formalSCL if a law, rule, or plan provides for something, it states that something will be done and makes it possible for it to be done The new constitution provides for a 650-seat legislature.3 formalPLAN to make plans in order to deal with something that might happen in the future Commanders failed to provide for an attack by sea. → provide→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
provide for • But it provided for a vote in February to reconsider the matter and allow money to be released March 1.• Insufficient support is provided for both keyboard and keypad which sag under pressure but the key actions are quite nice.• Providing for exceptional and individual needs may be more costly than providing for the average needs of fairly homogeneous groups of pupils.• The California Legislature has provided for mandatory arbitration of all cases involving amounts less than $ 15,000.• Ministers have been told that the present Levy Order does not explicitly provide for the recovery of levy from live lamb exports.• The expenses incurred by the college were all incurred necessarily in order properly to provide for these pupils.• The regulations provide for this in certain circumstances and we are considering how to improve the detail of the procedures.• To us kids the summer months were the greatest because of what Mother Nature provided for us to eat.From Longman Business Dictionaryprovide for somebody/something phrasal verb [transitive]1to give someone the things they need, such as money, food etcWithout work, how can I provide for my children?There will be an increasing number of retired and elderly people to be provided for by a progressively smaller number of workers.2formal to make plans in order to deal with something that might happen in the futureThe calculations must provide for the increase in inflation.3LAWif a law, contract, rule etc provides for something, it makes doing that thing possibleRecent legislation provides for a tribunal to hear the complainant’s case.The new contract provides for the purchase of 25 systems over four years. → provide→ See Verb table 