Furnish — A Vocabulary Story
The Echoing Flat
When Auntie Farah moved into the flat above her new flower shop, it was completely empty. Reza's voice bounced off the bare walls. "Hello!" he called, and the flat called "Hello!" right back.
"It echoes because there's nothing in it," said Auntie Farah. "That's why I need my favourite nephew to help me furnish it this weekend."
Furnish means to provide a room or building with furniture. It can also mean to supply or provide something needed.
Reza took the job very seriously. He made a list: one squashy sofa, one rug shaped like a tiger, one lamp, and forty-seven cushions.
"Forty-seven?" said Auntie Farah, raising an eyebrow.
"Fine. Forty-six," said Reza generously.
Furnishing the flat turned out to be harder than it looked. The squashy sofa got wedged halfway up the narrow staircase, with Baba pushing from below and Auntie Farah pulling from above. It would not budge.
Reza studied the stuck sofa like a detective. "Turn it on its side and swivel!" he announced. Baba groaned, swivelled, and the sofa popped through the doorway like a cork from a bottle. Everyone cheered.
By Sunday evening, the flat was properly furnished. The tiger rug sprawled across the floor, the lamp glowed in the corner, and the sofa sat proudly by the window with a very reasonable eleven cushions.
Reza stood in the middle of it all and shouted, "Hello!"
No echo. Just Auntie Farah's voice from the kitchen saying, "Dinner's ready, Chief Swiveller."
Reza flopped onto the sofa. Being in charge of swivelling, he decided, was hungry work.
Word Definition
furnish
meaning
to provide a room or building with furniture; to supply or provide something needed
synonyms
equip · supply · provide · fit out · stock
antonyms
strip · empty
example sentence
They plan to furnish the new flat next weekend.