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

For families While this isn’t a resort with waterslides and kids’ clubs, children are welcome and well catered for. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Apr. 2026

Spirit had introduced extra-legroom seats and other premium options to try to cater to higher-spending customers. —Leslie Josephs,phil Lebeau, CNBC, 22 Apr. 2026

The mill is also seeing demand grow for selvedge, even among brands that do not typically cater to the heritage consumer like Uniqlo and Loft. —Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 22 Apr. 2026

To help cater to its future owners’ whims, the 213-footer is designed with a removable modular system, which means the superyacht can be tailored to the adventure at hand. —Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 21 Apr. 2026

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