Cater Meaning
/ˈkeɪtə/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo provide, particularly
verbTo provide, To provide with food, especially for a special occasion as a professional service.
Sentence Examples
The net-cafes here cater to students; fees start at around a pound an hour.
We cater to you, the customer with refined taste.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The wedding planner will ____ to every dietary need of the guests.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The restaurant can ____ for large parties of up to one hundred people.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English catour (“acater, provisioner”), aphetic form of acatour (“acater”), from Old French acater (“to buy, to purchase”). Equivalent to cate + -er.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Noe widdowes curse caters a dish of mine."
— a. 1635, Thomas Randolph, Poems, On the Inestimable Content He Injoyes, page 4:
"Priya’s parents’ Hinduism seemed to present conflicting views of sex: […] What people don’t know about the Kama Sutra is that it’s actually a text that … very heavily caters to Madonna/whore complexes. That it’s actually quite misogynistic. And that it’s actually catered more for male pleasure and … males always will have the upper hand according to the Kama Sutra."
— 2020, Pamela Dickey Young, Heather Shipley, “Emerging-Adult Opinions on Religion and Sexuality”, in Identities Under Construction: Religion, Gender, and Sexuality among Youth in Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press, →ISBN, pages 59–60:
"Huludao’s Xingcheng county and two districts have ordered entertainment venues such as theatres and cinemas to close, while restaurants are not to offer banqueting services or cater for large gatherings."
— 2022 February 10, Zhuang Pinghui, “Omicron cases crash in ‘vital window’ for China city Baise’s outbreak battle”, in South China Morning Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2022, Science:
"He that doth the Rauens feede,
Yea prouidently caters for the Sparrow."
— a. 1616, William Shakespeare, As You Like It, act 2, scene 3, lines 45 ff.:
"Art... was... catering to the national taste and vanity."
— 1840, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Paris Sketch Book, volume 2, page 16:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The wedding planner will ____ to every dietary need of the guests.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The restaurant can ____ for large parties of up to one hundred people.