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

Find various inseams from regular, short, and long, that cater across the board, ensuring your best fit is possible, no matter your body type. —Kristina Rutkowski, Glamour, 7 May 2025

Local businesses and residents serve as extras, and neighborhood associations were involved from the script stage through production, helping with everything from set dressing to catering. —Jamie Lang, Variety, 30 Apr. 2025

The Tryst is a luxury boutique hotel catered toward gay world travelers, owned by entrepreneur Tristan Schukraft. —Benjamin Vanhoose, People.com, 26 Apr. 2025

And day or night travel is catered for too, courtesy of a 100-lux headlight, plus a braking tail-light integrated into the full alloy fender to the rear. —New Atlas, 25 Apr. 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