cater
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
-
(intr; foll by for or to) to provide what is required or desired (for)
to cater for a need
cater to your tastes
-
to provide food, services, etc (for)
we cater for parties
to cater a banquet
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing cater
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 2
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"Curtis Aikens and the American Dream" and "Go For It!"
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Mardi Gras: Food
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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.
They didn't cater for the people peering over the rim of the trench with her.
From BBC • May 21, 2026
The company plans to cater mostly to commercial and industrial customers in the U.S., including artificial-intelligence hyperscalers.
From MarketWatch • May 18, 2026
The result is a glittering urban center that is richer, smaller and built to cater to upscale living.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
They traveled on Sundays to various churches, both American Christian and Haitian Christian, shifting the sound to cater to different sensibilities.
From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2026
Others cater to more specific tastes: ChristianSingles.com, JDate.com, Latin Matcher.com, BlackSinglesConnection.com, CountryWestern Singles.com, USMilitarySingles.com, OverweightDate.com, and Dating websites are the most successful subscription- based business on the Internet.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
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.
