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

Per The Telegraph, interested parties can expect to pay roughly $6,735 to get married midweek at The King’s Hall, named in honor of Charles; the price will rise to $11,450 to get married on the weekends, not including catering. —Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 7 Jan. 2026

So all of his advice is catered towards me. —Alexandra Hurtado, PEOPLE, 6 Jan. 2026

Self-catering cottages have no age restrictions. —Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Jan. 2026

Nashville's apartment supply caters to young professionals Though a huge number of apartment units are available in Nashville, these luxury buildings are largely catered toward a very specific type of renter. —Molly Davis, Nashville Tennessean, 29 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