Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To act as a go-between or liaison in sexual intrigues; function as a procurer.
  • intransitive verb To cater to the lower tastes and desires of others or exploit their weaknesses.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To cater for the lusts of others.
  • To minister to others' passions or prejudices for selfish ends.
  • To cater for the gratification of the lusts or passions of; pimp for.
  • noun One who caters for the lusts of others; a male bawd; a pimp or procurer.
  • noun Hence One who ministers to the gratification of any of the baser passions of others.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To play the pander for.
  • transitive verb To appeal to (base emotions or less noble desires), so as to achieve one's purpose; to exploit (base emotions, such as lust, prejudice, or hate).
  • noun A male bawd; a pimp; a procurer.
  • noun Hence, one who ministers to the evil designs and passions of another.
  • intransitive verb To act the part of a pander.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A person who furthers the illicit love-affairs of others; a pimp or procurer, especially when male. (Later panderer.)
  • noun An offer of illicit sex with a third party.
  • noun An illicit or illegal offer, usually to tempt.
  • verb intransitive To offer illicit sex with a third party; to pimp.
  • verb intransitive To tempt with, to appeal or cater to (improper motivations etc.); to assist in the gratification of.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb yield (to); give satisfaction to
  • noun someone who procures customers for whores (in England they call a pimp a ponce)
  • verb arrange for sexual partners for others

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English Pandare, Pandarus, from Old Italian Pandaro, from Latin Pandarus, from Greek Pandaros.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Chaucer’s character Pandare (in Troilus and Criseyde), from Italian Pandaro (found in Boccaccio), from Latin Pandarus, from Ancient Greek Πάνδαρος. (See also Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida).

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Examples

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  • Origin: 1325–75; earlier pandar(e), generalized use of ME name Pandarus

    October 26, 2007

  • Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 4:

    "reason panders will."

    September 2, 2009

  • Woohoo, some saucy nominal meanings.

    February 14, 2016