department store

American  

noun

department stores plural

1. a large retail store carrying a wide variety of merchandise and organized into various departments for sales and administrative purposes.

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department store British  

noun

1. a large shop divided into departments selling a great many kinds of goods

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• department stores
  plural

Etymology

Origin of department store

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

department store

One proposed explanation pointed to large industrial fans operating inside a department store warehouse.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026

Princes Street will remain partially closed during the start of Edinburgh's festival season following a fire at a former department store.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

Rodrigues had been working for Lima Construction as a principal contractor on the redevelopment of a former department store, which was being converted into a mix of commercial and residential units.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026

More concrete buildings came tumbling down during the magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake of 1994, causing the partial collapse of a Kaiser Permanente building and a Bullock’s department store.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026

“I thought you were going to go work with your father in the department store business.”

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Related Words

• chain store
• discount store
• shop
• store