cater

verb

ca·​ter ˈkā-tər 

catered; catering; caters

intransitive verb

1

: to provide a supply of food

cater for a large party

2

: to supply what is required or desired

catering to middle-class tastes

transitive verb

: to provide food and service for

catered the banquet

caterer

ˈkā-tər-ər 

noun

Synonyms

• board
• feed
• provision
• victual

Examples of cater in a Sentence

The restaurant caters for parties.

A local restaurant catered the banquet.

The awards ceremony will be a catered event.

Recent Examples on the Web

Analog sources are catered for with two line-level stereo RCA inputs, plus another for a turntable. —Mark Sparrow, Forbes.com, 13 June 2025

Revlon Airflow Control Dryer: This budget-friendly hair dryer has a uniquely chubby nozzle that caters well to curly hair types. —Olivia Cigliano, Footwear News, 12 June 2025

Logan Prime Executive Catering provides luxury upscale catering for corporate clients, caters weddings and other private celebrations, and also provides private chef services. —Francine Knowles, Chicago Tribune, 9 June 2025

There’s also a lot of good brands that cater toward the younger office girly, like Old Navy and Gap and J. Crew. —Jennifer Liu, CNBC, 9 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

obsolete cater buyer of provisions, from Middle English catour, short for acatour, from Anglo-French, from acater to buy — more at cate

First Known Use

1580, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Phrases Containing cater

• cater-cousin
• cater for
• cater to

Rhymes for cater

• crater
• frater
• freighter
• gator
• grater
• greater
• hater
• krater
• later
• plater
• prater
• rater

Kids Definition

cater

verb

ca·​ter ˈkāt-ər 

1

: to provide a supply of food

cater for parties

2

: to supply what is wanted or needed

caterer

-ər-ər 

noun