cater

American  

[kay-ter] / ˈkeɪ tər /

verb (used without object)

• caters,
  present (3rd person singular)
• catered,
  past participle,  past
• catering
  present participle

1. to provide food, service, etc., as for a party or wedding.

   to cater for a banquet.

2. to provide or supply what amuses, is desired, or gives pleasure, comfort, etc. (usually followed by to orfor ).

   to cater to popular demand; to cater to an invalid.

   Synonyms:

   please, indulge, humor

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verb (used with object)

• caters,
  present (3rd person singular)
• catered,
  past participle,  past
• catering
  present participle

1. to provide food and service for.

   to cater a party.

cater British  

/ ˈkeɪtə /

verb

1. (intr; foll by for or to) to provide what is required or desired (for)

   to cater for a need

   cater to your tastes

2. to provide food, services, etc (for)

   we cater for parties

   to cater a banquet

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• uncatered
  adjective
• uncatering
  adjective
• cateringly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• catering
  present
• catered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• cater
  simple
• caters
  simple
• have catered
  perfect
• has catered
  perfect
• am catering
  progressive
• are catering
  progressive
• is catering
  progressive
• have been catering
  perfect progressive
• has been catering
  perfect progressive

Past

• catered
  simple
• had catered
  perfect
• was catering
  progressive
• were catering
  progressive
• had been catering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will cater
  simple
• will have catered
  perfect
• will be catering
  progressive
• will have been catering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of cater

First recorded in 1350–1400; verb use of obsolete cater, Middle English catour, variant of acatour “buyer,” from Anglo-French, from acat(er) “to buy” ( see cate) + -our -or ²

Explanation

To cater means to supply food for meetings or celebrations. If you're having a big barbecue party but would rather hang out with your friends than grill, you could pay someone to cater it. In Middle English, the food supply in a big household was known as the cates, and so to cater meant keeping the pantry full. These days, caterers don't do pantries. They cook food for many different households or offices. Cater has also come to mean "giving what is desired or needed." You might cater to your grandfather by bringing him tea, reading to him, and laughing at his bad jokes.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cater caters catered catering

The Lesbian Bar Project reports that only 36 remain open in the U.S., and while trans women are welcome in these spaces, none of these bars specifically cater to them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

“All of our politicians and parties cater towards old people, which is not a bad thing,” said Phoebe Dolan, 28, co-director and one of its founding members.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

Whether he’s performing in Armenia, Mexico City, Paris or London, the comedian knows how to cater his act to the crowd — it’s never the same routine.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

After years of investing their personal capital together, Anderson and Fogelsong launched Friends & Family Capital in 2020, betting they could build a venture firm that would cater to startups’ strategic financial needs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

Expensive hotels line the coasts, but the town center doesn’t cater to tourists too much.

From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart

Aspen caters to the superrich, but it needs the plain-old rich, too.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Yet it doesn’t seem a coincidence to me that one newer show that caters to Generation Z, “Adults,” has a group of friends living rent-free in one of the character’s childhood home.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

Much of “Cursum Perficio” caters to neither the left nor the right.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

French luxury giant Chanel announced Thursday that it had acquired historic Parisian shirtmaker Charvet, having previously collaborated with the brand which caters mostly to men.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

My mother's parents were part of the small merchant class that caters to officials, Peacekeepers, and the occasional Seam customer.

From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

He said he just hasn’t “sold out to do it” because he recognizes “what my game is catered to.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Clients want to customize AI models and control their own data, and Palantir has catered to these needs.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

In Auckland, the Hāngī Master, Rewi Spraggon, honors his ancestors with his traditional hāngī catered cooking.

From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026

The stores catered to Chinese residents in Southern California.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

“To Wilfrido Pipo’s office. He’s having a catered lunch for the local businesses.”

From "The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora" by Pablo Cartaya

Uber Technologies agreed to buy catering platform EzCater for about $2.3 billion in cash, pushing its food-delivery business into a new niche.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Uber expects the catering platform, with average orders exceeding $400, to boost its profit margins.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

Tasnime Rotherham, 42, who runs a mobile catering business, said the notoriously bad signal in the city centre was affecting trade.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

For years, Khalwinder Singh Bhengura lived an unassuming life in Arlington, Texas, where the 69-year-old Indian immigrant works a graveyard shift preparing passenger meals for an airline catering company.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

“A preview of my catering business!” she says too loudly.

From "Pride" by Ibi Zoboi