What does supplier mean?
Word: Supplier
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Supplier means a person or company that sells or delivers the goods that other people or businesses need, such as food, paper or machine parts.
Synonyms: provider, vendor
Antonyms: buyer
How do you spell supplier?
Syllables: sup - pli - er
Tricky part: The word is built on supply, but the y turns into an i before er is added. Pupils who keep the y write supplyer.
Watch out for: supplyer, suppliar
Memory tip: Think of copy and copier: the y gives way to an i when er joins on, and supply behaves in just the same way.
Supplier in a sentence
Example 1: The restaurant changed its vegetable supplier because the tomatoes kept arriving soft.
Example 2: Ana's uncle runs a small firm that is a supplier of solar panels to farms in the hills.
Example 3: When the usual supplier ran out of cardboard, the factory had to wait two days for a new delivery.
Fun Fact
Supplier grew out of the verb supply, which reached English through Old French from the Latin supplere, a word for filling something up.
Practise the CREST Way
Spellacadabra
Choose the misspelt word:
a) occupier
b) multiplier
c) qualifier
d) suplier
Show answer
d) suplier. Occupier, multiplier and qualifier are all correct, but the word for someone who provides goods needs a double p.
Word Champ
In which option are the given words arranged in alphabetical order?
1. supplier 2. supply 3. supplement 4. support
a) 1324
b) 3214
c) 3142
d) 3124
Show answer
d) 3124. All four share supp, so look further along: l comes before o, and after suppl the letters e, i and y fall in that order.
Word Puzzle
Match the words with their meanings:
1. supplier 2. customer 3. warehouse a. a large building where goods are stored b. a business that keeps a shop or factory stocked with what it needs c. a person who buys goods or services
a) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
b) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
c) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
d) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
Show answer
a) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a. Goods travel from the one who provides them, sit in a store building on the way, and end with the one who pays for them.
Sound Check
Which of the following words does not rhyme with supplier?
a) higher
b) choir
c) barrier
d) buyer
Show answer
c) barrier. Higher, choir and buyer all share the long eye sound of the stressed syllable; barrier is said with the short a of cat.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A school canteen's supplier is most likely to ___.
a) mark the pupils' homework each week
b) deliver crates of fruit every morning
c) cook hot lunches for the pupils
d) sweep the dining hall each evening
Show answer
b) deliver crates of fruit every morning
2. Which sentence uses supplier correctly?
a) The coach will supplier the team with fresh towels.
b) The market felt far more supplier than usual today.
c) A new supplier now brings printer paper to our office.
d) He supplier the boxes to the shop before lunch.
Show answer
c) A new supplier now brings printer paper to our office.
