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.
Cater added: "The larger percentage of students that don't attend school, the worse outcomes become. At the moment there is a key identified group that white working-class girls are more likely to miss school."
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026
Dr Cater was able to show that choline sits in a cavity of FLVCR2 as it travels across the blood-brain barrier and is kept in place by a cage of protein residues.
From Science Daily • May 1, 2024
"Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Cater" will debut over two days on May 27 and 28 at 9 p.m.
From Salon • Apr. 26, 2024
“Print newspapers were flourishing, The Times still came out in the afternoon and we were expanding our suburban editions,” remembers Karen Cater, copy editor and former copy desk chief.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 28, 2023
Cater waiters employed by their in-laws could barely afford rent.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
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.
