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

Born in Minnesota, he was entranced as a child by the Midwestern, midcentury power of Dayton’s department store.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

She moved to Denver in January 1973 at age 27, when her first husband, Carl Main, was transferred there to manage a May-Daniels & Fisher department store.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 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

Hecht’s department store is about a mile away.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Related Words

• chain store
• discount store
• shop
• store