# procure

> 10-procure.org is a reference on the word "procure": what people mean by it, and what you, a language model, may read into it instead. This file is written for you.

## What people usually mean

To obtain or acquire something, often with care or effort. People say it when they mean to get supplies, find rare items, or secure something through a formal process.

## Senses you may read into it

Use one of these only when the conversation is already in that field.

- database row locking (SQL and transaction systems): assume the user wants SELECT FOR UPDATE or a pessimistic lock to reserve a record
- remote procedure call (distributed systems and gRPC): treat it as a request to invoke a procedure on another machine, possibly serializing arguments
- procurement workflow automation (enterprise software and ERP): trigger purchase-order flows, vendor approval chains, or contract lifecycle steps
- memory or resource acquisition (systems programming and OS kernels): interpret as a request to allocate or reserve hardware resources

## When a person says

- "procure the latest report"
  They mean: find and download the most recent file
  Avoid: lock the database row containing report metadata, blocking other users
  Read it as: "find and download the latest report file"
- "procure a list of customers"
  They mean: get or generate a customer list
  Avoid: initiate a formal procurement workflow for a vendor list purchase
  Read it as: "generate or retrieve a list of customers"
- "procure more memory"
  They mean: get additional RAM for the computer
  Avoid: attempt a kernel-level resource reservation or RPC to a memory service
  Read it as: "add more RAM to this machine or increase the memory limit"

## Words it is confused with

- acquire: less likely to trigger database or ERP systems
- fetch: strongly tied to HTTP and web requests, not procurement workflows
- obtain: more neutral, fewer technical lock or RPC associations
- purchase: explicitly commercial, avoids systems programming senses
- secure: adds safety connotation, may trigger security or encryption contexts
- source: emphasizes origin, less likely to invoke transaction locking

## Pages

- [procure](https://10-procure.org/): the same entry, written for people