customer

[kuhs-tuh-mer]

noun

1. a person who purchases goods or services from another; buyer; patron.

2. Informal.,  a person one has to deal with.

   a tough customer; a cool customer.

customer

/ ˈkʌstəmə /

noun

1. a person who buys

2. informal,  a person with whom one has dealings

   a cool customer

Word History and Origins

Origin of customer¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; custom + -er ¹; compare Middle English customer “collector of customs,” from Anglo-French; Old French costumier, cognate with Medieval Latin custumārius; customary

Idioms and Phrases

see ugly customer.

Example Sentences

Herasight counts “well known billionaires” among its 80 initial customers, according to a May venture capital email to potential investors reviewed by the Journal.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Banks at times upgrade their customers’ existing cards, meaning that it is possible those cards that currently don’t have rewards on them could fall into a rewards category in the future.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

More than 30,000 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers temporarily lost power Saturday after a widespread outage affected several parts of the city, according to the utility.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"There are positives, as traders don't have to rely on customers having available change. They may also have the opportunity to upsell items at higher prices," he says.

Read more on BBC

In the 1990s, telecommunications companies engaged in vendor financing, lending money to their customers to help fund purchases.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• client 
• consumer 
• patron 
• purchaser www.thesaurus.com