To Admi'nister. v.a. [administro, Lat.]

1. To give; to afford; to supply.

                       Let zephyrs bland
   Administer their tepid genial airs;
   Naught fear he from the west, whose gentle warmth
   Discloses well the earth's all-teeming womb. Philips.

2. To act as the minister or agent in any employment or office; generally, but not always, with some hint of subordination, to administer the government.

   For forms of government let fools contest,
   Whate'er is best administer'd, is best. Pope's Essay on Man.

3. To administer justice.

4. To administer the sacraments.

   Have not they the old popish custom of administering the blessed sacrament of the holy eucharist with wafer-cakes? Hooker, b. iv. § 10.

5. To administer an oath.

   Swear by the duty that you owe to heav'n,
   To keep the oath that we administer. Shakesp. Richard II.

6. To administer physick.

   I was carried on men's shoulders, administering physick and phlebotomy. Wafers's Voyage.

7. To administer to; to contribute; to bring supplies.

   I must not omit, that there is a fountain rising in the upper part of my garden, which forms a little wandering rill, and administers to the pleasure, as well as the plenty, of the place. Spectator, № 477.

8. To perform the office of an administrator, in law. See Administrator.

   Neal's order was never performed, because the executors durst not administer. Arbuthnot and Pope's Martin. Scribler.