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

Part of the newfound popularity of vagueposting might be that social media users are growing tired of catering everything to everyone. —Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026

There are some lovely places to stay, such as the Varangertunet guesthouse and the self-catering cabins of the Ekker Island Arctic Lodge. —The Week Uk, TheWeek, 22 Jan. 2026

The event includes a lunch catered by Viewpoint Brewing Co. —Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Jan. 2026

The Exchange Located in an old bank building in DTSB, The Exchange is one of South Bend’s only late-night bars catering squarely to the non-student crowd. —Sarah Cahalan, Travel + Leisure, 11 Jan. 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