merchandise
Americannoun
-
the manufactured goods bought and sold in any business.
-
the stock of goods in a store.
-
goods, especially manufactured goods; commodities.
verb (used without object)
-
merchandises,
present (3rd person singular)
-
merchandised,
past participle, past
-
merchandising
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
merchandises,
present (3rd person singular)
-
merchandised,
past participle, past
-
merchandising
present participle
-
to buy and sell; deal in; trade.
-
to plan or manage the arrangement and promotion of (goods in a store).
When you merchandise your products, promote impulse purchases by grouping like items.
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
merchandisesimple
-
merchandisessimple
-
have merchandisedperfect
-
has merchandisedperfect
-
am merchandisingprogressive
-
are merchandisingprogressive
-
is merchandisingprogressive
-
have been merchandisingperfect progressive
-
has been merchandisingperfect progressive
Past
-
merchandisedsimple
-
had merchandisedperfect
-
was merchandisingprogressive
-
were merchandisingprogressive
-
had been merchandisingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of merchandise
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English marchandise, from Old French; see merchant, -ice
Explanation
The noun merchandise refers to things that can be bought or sold, like the merchandise that's for sale at your local record shop, or the merchandise sold by sidewalk vendors in a big city. When you go into a store, you're surrounded by merchandise, whether it's food, clothing, or books. Goods that can be bought or sold are merchandise, and so are items connected with a particular movie or music group — like the t-shirts you can buy at a rock concert's merchandise booth. Merchandise is also a verb, meaning "to promote or advertise" — "Retail stores merchandise goods using displays, signs, or mannequins."
Vocabulary lists containing merchandise
Material World: Shopping Lingo
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 10
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This Week In Words: November 21–27, 2020
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Niccol said such initiatives give customers more reasons to choose Starbucks, and he promised more beverages, food and merchandise collections to come in the new fiscal year.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
According to the Real Madrid-affiliated newspaper Marca, the Madrid club generates between 10 and 15 percent of its sales of jerseys and merchandise in China.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
The merchandise included JBL speakers, Logitech computer hardware, Victoria’s Secret merchandise, Nike and New Balance shoes and Husky tools.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
Sanrio, the company behind Hello Kitty, has apologised and ended its merchandise partnership with a controversial Japanese TV show after drawing backlash in China.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Horchow founded the Horchow Collection, a high-end mail order merchandise company.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
“When Salima merchandises a rack, she makes it feel like a full collection,” Mr. Cowan said.
From New York Times ● Mar. 9, 2022
“All Hail the Queen” reads the barrage of tweets, emails, taglines and signage on various merchandises including a t-shirt and a full deck of all Queen playing cards adorned with Stewart in royal regalia.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 21, 2021
She merchandises products through social media; she sells accessories for brands.
From New York Times ● Jan. 14, 2020
This courageous and unique writer never retreats into metaphysics, never merchandises the jargon of protest.
From Time Magazine Archive
Traders and procurers from up and down the coast converged on Charleston, checking the merchandises eyes and joints and spines, wary of venereal distemper and other afflictions.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
He makes clear that the eventual titans of streetwear were scrappy entrepreneurs who merged graffiti, break dancing, hip-hop, punk rock and skateboarding, all gestures of rebellion they cleverly merchandised.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
Putin became the first fully merchandised Russian leader: T-shirts, calendars, coffee mugs and imagery such as playing with dogs or riding bare-chested atop a horse through the Russian forest.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 28, 2023
Your work subverts advertising and consumerism, yet your work has also been merchandised as object.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2022
“They are merchandised as ‘It’ items,” said Sharon Graubard, the founder and creative director of MintModa, a fashion forecasting firm.
From New York Times ● Mar. 9, 2021
Sonnets xiv MY love is strengthen'd, though more weak in seeming; I love not less, though less the show appear: That love is merchandised whose rich esteeming The owner's tongue doth publish everywhere.
From Bulchevy's Book of English Verse by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
The Fresh Market promoted Alyssa Vescio from chief merchandising officer to chief commercial officer, responsible for marketing, merchandising and commercial planning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
The massive merchandising push around the 2028 Summer Olympics will also include global brands such as Nike and Ralph Lauren.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
Those that can’t pivot to more popular merchandising themes are shutting down.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
Cara Sylvester, Target’s chief merchandising officer, said on the media call that those changes represented the biggest reset of its dry-grocery section in more than a decade.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
“Most fields of human merchandising value nationwide brand identities,” he said.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
