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 of cater

• feed
• board
• sustain
• serve

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

Kay said that the report gives Coinbase an opportunity to cater its products to a younger consumer-base. —Carlos Garcia, Fortune, 16 Dec. 2025

The restaurant shuttered in 2001 after an earthquake damaged the building and from then on she and Henton worked side-by-side at various Seattle spots and catering for large businesses including Microsoft. —Sabrina Weiss, PEOPLE, 15 Dec. 2025

Others formed lines in front of food tents in SOUTHCOM's parking lot, catered specially for the occasion by TV personality Guy Fieri. —Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today, 12 Dec. 2025

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey made the rounds Wednesday at a mall that caters primarily to the Somali population. —Rob Kuznia, CNN Money, 7 Dec. 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