Standard Lemma guide

taster

noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /teɪstɚ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪstə(ɹ)
  • CMU ARPABET: T EY1 S T ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An object in which, or by which, food or drink is tasted, such as a small cup.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • A flight of tasters was served to the people who would vote on the next soda flavor to be released.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Someone who tastes something; especially, either (1) to check its quality (in food science, winemaking, etc.) or (2) as a security measure to prevent assassination of a protectee.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Big companies such as P&G or Kraft Heinz employ or contract with professional tasters who help with product development.
  • Being a cook for protectees also entails being a taster for them.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: tester

3

noun

Meaning 3

A kind of zooid situated on the polyp-stem of certain Siphonophorae, resembling the feeding zooids, but destitute of mouths.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, natural-sciences, zoology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A sample of something bigger or grander intended for future use.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The Kraft Heinz exhibit at the trade fair was a taster of new snack products set to hit the market soon.
  • The Samsung exhibit at the trade fair was a taster of new consumer electronic products set to hit the market soon.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A person who is, by genetic makeup, able to taste phenylthiocarbamide.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: nontaster

6

noun

Meaning 6

someone who samples food or drink for its quality

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: taste tester, taste-tester, sampler

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: critic

Narrower terms: wine taster

History

Etymology

From Middle English taster; equivalent to taste + -er.

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مُتَذَوِّق (mutaḏawwiq) — Person who tastes wine etc.
  • Azerbaijani: dadıcı — Person who tastes wine etc.
  • Bulgarian: дегустатор (degustator) — Person who tastes wine etc.
  • Finnish: maistaja — Person who tastes wine etc.
  • French: goûteur — Person who tastes wine etc.
  • French: goûteuse — Person who tastes wine etc.
  • Galician: catador — Person who tastes wine etc.
  • Hungarian: kóstoló — Person who tastes wine etc.
  • Irish: blastóir — Person who tastes wine etc.
  • Manx: blassteyder — Person who tastes wine etc.
  • Polish: degustator — Person who tastes wine etc.
  • Polish: degustatorka — Person who tastes wine etc.
  • Vietnamese: người nếm thử — Person who tastes wine etc.