provider
Americannoun
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a person or thing that provides.
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a person who supports a family or another person.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of provider
Explanation
A provider is a person who gives someone something they need. If your parents both have jobs so they can feed you and buy you what you need, you can call them providers. Your mom's a provider if she works so she can care for you, put food on the table, and send you to school. There are other types of providers as well, although they all give you something you need, often a service. Your school is a provider of education, and the pharmacy around the corner is a provider of medication, makeup, and magazines. It's increasingly common to call your main doctor a "primary care provider."
Vocabulary lists containing provider
Father's Day Words
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 5
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"A Raisin in the Sun," "My Father is a Simple Man," and "My Mother Pieced Quilts"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
According to the couple’s daughters, Paul was the first internet service provider in town.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2026
Hackers also caused chaos later in the year with an attack on another US healthcare provider called Ascension.
From BBC • Jun. 22, 2026
Last month, Kalshi had roughly double Polymarket’s trading volume, according to data provider The Block.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 21, 2026
And it placed limitations on state provider taxes, which are used by states to fund their portion of Medicaid financing.
From Barron's • Jun. 20, 2026
Fwooper has long been a provider of fancy quills and also lays brilliantly patterned eggs.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
