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

Shares of Macy’s slid 4.7% to $20.50 even after the department store chain raised its sales growth projection for a second time this year after recording growth across its brands.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

During that process, another call came in that the suspect had moved into the nearby Marshalls department store.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

Edinburgh's Princes Street is to fully reopen on Saturday, seven weeks after a major fire at a former department store.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

Carroll, a former magazine columnist who is now 82, sued Trump for attacking her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Hanging from a department store rack was a sleek, sparkly dress in a doll’s size.

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

Related Words

• chain store
• discount store
• shop
• store