[] a company that provides raw materials or pieces of equipment to companies that make goods; a company that provides finished goods, for example for other companies to sell to the public供应商；供货商◆suppliers to the catering industry餐饮业供货商◆the world's largest supplier of mobile phones世界上最大的手机供应商◆Boeing are the airline's sole(= only) supplier of aircraft.波音是这家航空公司的独家供货商。◆We have reduced our supplier base(= the number of companies that supply us) by half over the last year.去年我们将供应商数量减少了一半。◆a building supplier ( = a company that supplies materials for building)建筑材料供货商SYNvendor ➡ see note at supply chain ⨁a big / key / large / leading / major supplier 大／关键／大型／一流／主要供应商a company that supplies gas, water or electricity（天然气、水、电等公用事业的）供应商◆a UK-based energy supplier总部设在英国的能源供应商◆a supplier of gas and power天然气和电力供应商◆She claims that a third of households have switched suppliers (= changed to another company) in the last three years.她声称有三分之一的家庭在过去三年中已更换了供应商。first-tier supplier second-tier supplier