PROVIDER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does provider mean? 

• PROVIDER (noun)
  The noun PROVIDER has 2 senses:

1. someone whose business is to supply a particular service or commodity

2. someone who provides the means for subsistence

  Familiarity information: PROVIDER used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PROVIDER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone whose business is to supply a particular service or commodity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

provider; supplier

Hypernyms ("provider" is a kind of...):

bourgeois; businessperson (a capitalist who engages in industrial commercial enterprise)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "provider"):

black marketeer (someone who engages illegally in trade in scarce or controlled commodities)

caterer (someone who provides food and service (as for a party))

connection (a supplier (especially of narcotics))

dispenser (a person who dispenses)

distributer; distributor (someone who markets merchandise)

purveyor (someone who supplies provisions (especially food))

recruiter (someone who supplies members or employees)

stockist (one (as a retailer or distributor) that stocks goods)

provisioner; sutler; victualer; victualler (a supplier of victuals or supplies to an army)

Derivation:

provide (give something useful or necessary to)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone who provides the means for subsistence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("provider" is a kind of...):

benefactor; helper (a person who helps people or institutions (especially with financial help))

Derivation:

provide (give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance)

 Context examples 

If a screening shows that your baby might have a condition, the health care provider or the state health department will call you.

(Newborn Screening, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

Ask your health care provider to check whether your child's weight and height are in a healthy range.

(Obesity in Children, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

If a wound appears to be infected, see a health care provider.

(MRSA, NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

You and your health care provider will work together to find the best treatment.

(Cancer and Pregnancy, NIH)

If you have chest pain, you should see your health care provider.

(Angina, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Your health care provider will also do a blood test called an A1C.

(Blood Sugar, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

An improvement that can be measured by the health care provider (for example, when a tumor shrinks or there are fewer cancer cells in the blood).

(Objective improvement, NCI Dictionary)

A type of study in which both the health providers and the patients are aware of the drug or treatment being given.

(Open label study, NCI Dictionary)

This means that if you need a treatment, your health care provider must give you the information you need to make a decision.

(Patient Rights, NIH)

Your health care provider diagnoses the problem with a physical exam, a pelvic exam, or special tests.

(Pelvic Support Problems, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)