cash-and-carry
Americanadjective
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sold for cash payment and no delivery service.
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operated on such a basis.
a cash-and-carry business.
adjective
noun
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a wholesale store, esp for groceries, that operates on this basis
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an operation on a commodities futures market in which spot goods are purchased and sold at a profit on a futures contract
Etymology
Origin of cash-and-carry
First recorded in 1915–20
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.
Nathan “Natie” Kirsh, the 94-year-old founder, built the company into a leading cash-and-carry brand.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
These enablers "can't be bought in a hurry at the local cash-and-carry" as one European politician put it to me.
From BBC • Mar. 4, 2025
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Hardy was credited with “rethinking the lumber business in the late 1950s with a cash-and-carry approach focused on professional contractors and builders.”
From Seattle Times • Jan. 8, 2023
After much debate, in November 1939 Congress repealed provisions of earlier Neutrality Acts and authorized trade in military hardware on a cash-and-carry basis.
From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022
In many of the cities and large towns, some credit grocers have adopted what is called the "cash-and-carry plan."
From Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume 5: Fruit and Fruit Desserts; Canning and Drying; Jelly Making, Preserving and Pickling; Confections; Beverages; the Planning of Meals by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
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.