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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

cater

/ˈkeɪɾɚ/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:55
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What does cater mean?

verb

  1. To provide, particularly
  2. To provide with food, especially for a special occasion as a professional service.
  3. (figuratively) To provide anything required or desired, often (derogatory) to pander.
More meanings (10)

verb

  1. (figuratively) To tailor something to an intended audience.
  2. To place, set, move, or cut diagonally or rhomboidally.

adverb

  1. Diagonally.

noun

  1. A method of ringing nine bells in four pairs with a ninth tenor bell.
  2. (obsolete) Synonym of acater: an officer who purchased cates (food supplies) for the steward of a large household or estate.
  3. (obsolete) Synonym of caterer: any provider of food.
  4. (figuratively, obsolete) Synonym of purveyor: any provider of anything.
  5. (obsolete, rare) Four.
  6. (obsolete) The four of cards or dice.

proper noun

  1. A surname originating as an occupation.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈkeɪɾɚ/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Other dictionary pronunciations

/ˈkeɪtəɹ/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Telling me about the incident, she said it was because she would not allow herself to cater to such people.
William Healy; Mary Tenney HealyPathology of Lying, Accusation, and Swindling: A Study in Forensic PsychologyProject Gutenberg ebook #449
People talk about Christian liberty and then go and cater to the desires of covetousness, pleasure, pride, envy, and other vices.
Martin LutherCommentary on the Epistle to the GalatiansTranslated by Theodore GraebnerProject Gutenberg ebook #1549
More book examples (3)
The trouble is that people cater as much to the rich with their ideas of a national theater as the theatrical syndicate itself.
Annie Payson CallNerves and Common SenseProject Gutenberg ebook #4339
The chief concern of the ryots is to detain me until they can bring the resident Khan to see me ride, evidently from a servile desire to cater to his pleasure.
Thomas StevensAround the World on a Bicycle - Volume I From San Francisco to TeheranProject Gutenberg ebook #5136
Before whom do the presidential candidates bow down the most humbly, on whom do they fawn the most fondly, and for whose tastes do they cater the most assiduously in their servile protestations?
Charles DickensAmerican NotesProject Gutenberg ebook #675