warehouse

American  

[wair-hous, wair-houz, -hous] / ˈwɛərˌhaʊs, ˈwɛərˌhaʊz, -ˌhaʊs /

noun

warehouses plural

1. a building, or a part of one, for the storage of goods, merchandise, etc.

2. British. a large retail store.

3. a building, or a part of one, in which wholesalers keep large stocks of merchandise, which they display and sell to retailers.

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verb (used with object)

warehouses, present (3rd person singular) warehoused, past participle, past warehousing present participle

1. to place, deposit, or store in a warehouse.

2. to set aside or accumulate, as for future use.

3. to place in a government or bonded warehouse, to be kept until duties are paid.

4. Informal. to confine (the mentally ill) to large institutions for long-term custodial care.

warehouse British  

noun

1. a place where goods are stored prior to their use, distribution, or sale

2. See bonded warehouse

3. a large commercial, esp wholesale, establishment

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verb

1. (tr) to store or place in a warehouse, esp a bonded warehouse

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• miniwarehouse
  noun

Inflected Forms

noun

• warehouses
  plural

Conjugated Forms

Present

• have warehoused
  perfect
• has warehoused
  perfect 3rd person singular
• is warehousing
  progressive 3rd person singular
• has been warehousing
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• am warehousing
  progressive 1st person singular
• are warehousing
  progressive
• warehousing
  participle
• have been warehousing
  perfect progressive
• warehouses
  singular 3rd person

Past

• had warehoused
  perfect
• was warehousing
  progressive singular
• had been warehousing
  perfect progressive
• warehoused
  participle
• were warehousing
  progressive plural
• warehoused
  simple

Future

• will warehouse
  simple
• will have warehoused
  perfect
• will have been warehousing
  perfect progressive
• will be warehousing
  progressive

Etymology

Origin of warehouse

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at ware ¹, house

Explanation

A warehouse is a place where a company stores things they are going to sell. If you order a book online, it is almost certainly shipped from a warehouse to your house. When a business has to store a lot of items, they often use a warehouse, or a large building, to keep them safe and organized until they're sold or made into a finished product. You can use the word warehouse as a verb, too: "I need to warehouse all these roller skates, because they're not selling as fast as I'd hoped." Warehouse combines ware, or "manufactured goods," and house. In other words, it's a place to house your wares.

Example Sentences

However, investors shouldn’t count out Costco forever, given the company’s strong same-store sales–evidence of its expanding market share–and the increasing popularity of warehouse clubs in general.

From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026

It turns out, though, that it looks like a warehouse of space junk, and it sounds like an industrial-strength air-conditioning system.

From Salon • Jun. 8, 2026

As word of the raid spread, a crowd of protesters outside the warehouse began to grow.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2026

He used to work in a warehouse but has struggled since then, particularly with the lack of communication from some employers.

From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026

“We’ll shoot the warehouse scenes tomorrow,” the director announced when the crew finally wrapped for the day.

From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein