chandler
noun
a person who makes or sells candles and sometimes other items of tallow or wax, as soap.
chandler
1 American
[chand-ler, chahnd-]
/ ˈtʃænd lər, ˈtʃɑnd- /
noun
-
chandlers
plural
-
a person who makes or sells candles and sometimes other items of tallow or wax, as soap.
-
a dealer or trader in supplies, provisions, etc., of a specialized type.
a ship chandler.
-
a retailer of provisions, groceries, etc.
Chandler
2
American
[chand-ler, chahnd-]
/ ˈtʃænd lər, ˈtʃɑnd- /
noun
-
Charles Frederick, 1836–1925, U.S. scientist, educator, and public-health expert.
-
Raymond (Thornton), 1888–1959, U.S. writer of detective novels.
-
a town in central Arizona.
chandler
1
British
/ ˈtʃɑːndlə /
noun
-
a dealer in a specified trade or merchandise
corn chandler
ship's chandler
-
a person who makes or sells candles
-
obsolete a retailer of grocery provisions; shopkeeper
Chandler
2
British
/ ˈtʃɑːndlə /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of chandler
1275–1325; Middle English chandeler candlestick, maker or seller of candles < Anglo-French, Old French chandelier, literally, someone or something connected with candles, equivalent to chandelle candle + -ier -ier 2
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:
There he would join five or six fellow Greeks some of whom lived in the area, among them Alexanderos Callinicos, a local ship chandler.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2016
But the flow dropped to zero in January, according to state data, and a ship chandler in Portland says the pipeline had no tanker deliveries in February.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 8, 2016
“Nothing is going to flow until this court case is resolved,” said Mark Usinger, a Portland ship chandler who for years has delivered supplies to the oil tankers.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 8, 2016
My Great Uncle Emlyn, a keen Methodist, had a job in Smithfield meat market collecting unwanted offcuts to deliver to the tallow chandler.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 25, 2012
All the candles and other goods were stolen the day they ran the chandler out of town.
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
“That might have been another reason why I said, ‘I want to do this,’” Chandler says during a recent interview.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
“I think that one of the goals of the arc for these two guys is that they really don’t like each other at the beginning,” says Chandler.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
Coincidentally, the day Chandler came out to L.A. to start work on “Lanterns” was on the anniversary of the day he first left his home to chase his acting dreams — Jan. 15, 1989.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
Mr. Pierre is solid, stolid superhero material; Mr. Chandler is pure mischief.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
A roust allowed Chandler to replenish his jars.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
The duo had originally envisaged their project as a way to revive specific arts-and-crafts traditions, sourcing lacemakers, glass blowers and chandlers from Vienna to Milan to their native Cairo.
From New York Times ● May 13, 2022
Harbor Ship Supply is among the shrinking ranks of ship chandlers, a name that derives from the French word for candles, once a key item onboard ship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 14, 2022
“It was not only the merchants trading in enslaved human beings who profited but barrel-makers, brothel-keepers, chandlers, candle-makers, carpenters, dockworkers, inn-keepers, laundresses, sailors, sail-makers and shoemakers,” Carby writes.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 9, 2019
Theatrical chandlers, Alasdair Flint and Gerry Jeatt, showed them how to work the rigging that would make the curtain rise and fall.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 9, 2011
“If I forbid them to carve stone or lay bricks, the chandlers, the weavers, and the goldsmiths will soon be at my gates asking that they be excluded from those trades as well.”
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
