DCHP-1 Online

outfit ((n.))

• 1a n. Fur Trade the annual shipment of trading goods and supplies sent by a fur company to its trading posts collectively; also, any part of this shipment dispatched to or received by any particular post.

  See also: returns  

• 1b n. Fur Trade the trading goods and supplies taken into the interior by fur-company employees such as traders and runners, by free traders, etc.

  • It is quite possible that outfit was first used by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670 to designate the annual shipment of trading goods and supplies to its factories in Rupert's Land (see 1933 quote at def. 2a); it seems probable, moreover, that most modern senses of the term derive from this early fur-trade usage.

• 2a n. Fur Trade the fiscal year of the Hudson's Bay Company. See 1933 quote.

  See also: outfit ((n.)) (def. 1a)  

• 2b n. Fur Trade in fur trader's parlance, a year.

• 3a n. equipment and supplies required for an expedition or other undertaking, such as might be engaged in by prospectors, miners, trappers, fishermen, etc.

• 3b n. the equipment necessary for a specific job or activity.

• 4a † n. a group of persons travelling together or otherwise associated in a common endeavor.

• 4b n. a company or firm.

• 4c † n. West a ranch or those working for it.

• 5a n. a vehicle and its team, as a sled and dogs, a chuckwagon and horses.

• 5b n. a machine, rig, or set of machinery for a specific job.