provider
Americannoun
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providers
plural
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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.
See Examples For:
I’ve successfully negotiated for a cheaper plan with my internet provider.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
Morgan Stanley upgraded its stock rating for the online trading platform provider from equal-weight to overweight, increasing its price target from $124 to $150.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
Amazon is the third largest digital advertising provider globally.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
The deal also helped a nascent cloud provider, Lambda, secure a lucrative contract with Anthropic without needing to procure the data-center space on its own.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
I want to believe it’s a problem with the provider, and not with the stations themselves.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
Microsoft’s winning strategy doesn’t come from owning the best model, but rather routing user requests in the most efficient manner across Microsoft AI and third-party providers, according to the analyst.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
Ffion wants men to understand the harm this behaviour causes, and for colleges and training providers to offer better training on how to deal with such situations.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
Meanwhile, it paused some revenue-sharing deals with AI cloud providers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
The U.S. president’s naming authority extends only to federal maps and agencies; other nations — and private map providers — are not obligated to adopt the change.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
More than anything else, it was the lack of concern and responsiveness by police, prosecutors, and victims' services providers that devastated Mozelle and Onzelle.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
