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  • chandler
    chandler
    noun
    a person who makes or sells candles and sometimes other items of tallow or wax, as soap.
  • Chandler
    Chandler
    noun
    Charles Frederick, 1836–1925, U.S. scientist, educator, and public-health expert.
Synonyms

chandler

1 American  
[chand-ler, chahnd-] / ˈtʃænd lər, ˈtʃɑnd- /

noun

  • chandlers
    plural
  1. a person who makes or sells candles and sometimes other items of tallow or wax, as soap.

  2. a dealer or trader in supplies, provisions, etc., of a specialized type.

    a ship chandler.

  3. a retailer of provisions, groceries, etc.


Chandler 2 American  
[chand-ler, chahnd-] / ˈtʃænd lər, ˈtʃɑnd- /

noun

  1. Charles Frederick, 1836–1925, U.S. scientist, educator, and public-health expert.

  2. Raymond (Thornton), 1888–1959, U.S. writer of detective novels.

  3. a town in central Arizona.


chandler 1 British  
/ ˈtʃɑːndlə /

noun

  1. a dealer in a specified trade or merchandise

    corn chandler

    ship's chandler

  2. a person who makes or sells candles

  3. obsolete a retailer of grocery provisions; shopkeeper

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Chandler 2 British  
/ ˈtʃɑːndlə /

noun

  1. Raymond ( Thornton ). 1888–1959, US thriller writer: created Philip Marlowe, one of the first detective heroes in fiction

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

What ship chandler would not think of making a little extra money under the noble guise of saving lives?

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages is leaning toward surgery to repair the fractured left hand he sustained after being hit by a 100-mph sinker from Pittsburgh pitcher Bubba Chandler on Friday.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 22, 2026

“I love the old grouchy characters,” Chandler says.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 17, 2026

“I’d never worked with Aaron before … but once we’re acting, it gets very intimate,” Chandler says.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 17, 2026

Chandler won an Emmy for his work on the show in 2011.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 17, 2026

Vernon Chandler, 62, has been reported as missing from his Marcy Avenue apartment.

From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older

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

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