vendor

American  

[ven-der, ven-dawr] / ˈvɛn dər, vɛnˈdɔr /

noun

• vendors
  plural

1. a person or agency that sells.

2. vending machine.

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vendor British  

/ ˈvɛndɔː, ˈvɛndə /

noun

1. law a person who sells something, esp real property

2. another name for vending machine

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Usage

What is a vendor? A vendor is a person or business that sells something, as in The school lunch really improved after it changed food vendors. A vendor is also a machine that dispenses items after you put money into it. It’s more often called a vending machine. Example: The vendor told me that the box has a scratch, so she’s selling it cheap.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• vendors
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of vendor

1585–95; < Anglo-French vendo ( u ) r < Latin venditor. See vend, -or ²

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Explanation

If you are a vendor, it means you’re a person selling something, whether it’s hot dogs from a food cart or computer software for a tech company. The word vendor comes from the Latin word vendere, meaning “to sell.” Vendor is a name for people who sell things on the street, such as a hot dog vendor, but it can describe those who sell any kind of goods or services, especially a specialized product. A store at the mall isn't usually called a vendor, but you could use the word to describe the person or group that supplies the store with special products or services.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vendor vendors

“If you ask Hospital A, Hospital B, or any federally qualified health center how they measure the accuracy of interpretation, they’ll all give you the same answer: We let the vendor tell us,” Patel said.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

The vendor was run by Zanjani’s sister, and Zanjani had promoted it online.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

He said we still could apply to receive public money this school year, but as a vendor providing educational services such as tutoring.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

"The water keeps coming in. It's hard to go out now. It's like at my waist level now," said Somkid Pheuk-ngam, 67, a vendor who lives near a canal just north of central Bangkok.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

“When we take bananas, we give the vendor our money. People sell their things for money.”

From "The Bridge Home" by Padma Venkatraman

His company is one of a small group of language-services vendors who have long provided translation services in medical settings, via video, phone, and in person.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

The acquisition comes as cybersecurity vendors scramble to expand their AI capabilities, both to defend against threats that use the technology and to safeguard corporate systems increasingly accessed by autonomous AI tools.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

DJ and party attendee Sarah Graves loves the queer vendors selling accessories, giving out harm-reduction materials, and zines, and the Piercings by Mire booth that frequently pops up at the rave.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

Syleecia Thompson, a business professor at National University, said that "it hits small businesses, vendors, caterers and local communities".

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

The vendors were charging him a crazy markup.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

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Related Words

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