department store
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of department store
An Americanism dating back to 1885–90
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.
Macy’s faces declining department store views, but Bloomingdale’s comparable sales increased 7% last year.
From Barron's • May 18, 2026
One department store worker told the BBC that shoppers were being deterred by children "coming in en masse, creating noise and chaos".
From BBC • May 7, 2026
It depicts her in a black dress, ready to depart from her home in Eagle Bridge, N.Y., in November 1940, for Manhattan, where Gimbels department store was displaying her works.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026
Get thee to a department store for some soft furnishings.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026
As a seamstress at a downtown department store, she repaired, altered, and steam-pressed clothing—work known and respected by both the black professional class and ordinary workers.
From "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" by Phillip Hoose
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.
