deli
Americannoun
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a delicatessen.
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food typically sold at a delicatessen, as cold cuts, salads, and pickles.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of deli
First recorded in 1950–55; by shortening
Explanation
A deli is a market where you can buy prepared food or shop for staples including meat and cheese. You might have a favorite neighborhood deli where you go every morning for a bagel and coffee. The word deli is a shortened form, or common nickname, of delicatessen, an American English version of the German delikatessen, the plural of delikatesse, "delicacy," or "fine food." Many delis specialize in the food of a certain region, country, or ethnicity — like a Jewish deli, a German deli, or a Greek deli. You can usually buy sandwiches, salads, drinks, and specialty foods at delis.
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:
While popular variations use turkey, roast beef, pastrami and other deli meats, the original version on offer at the 99-year-old Town Hall Delicatessen is still made with ham and beef tongue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Sat Bains ran a breakfast pop-up on Sunday at a small deli in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, to support local businesses during a difficult time for the hospitality industry nationally.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
And he added that the company operates in an industry niche — prepared deli food — that has a combined $40 billion in U.S. sales.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Around her are patio tables displaying the kind of food the shop carried: pies and cakes, what appear to be stuffed tomatoes, baguettes, sophisticated deli salads, gorgeous hunks of cheese.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
With just a few scratches of her pen, our deli would be saved.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
But Ottolenghi, who has 11 restaurants, cafes and delis, described the situation was "crippling" - not just for his own business, but for others running bakeries, cafes, and pubs.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
The company changed its name to Restaurant Depot in the 1990s and started serving more food operators across the U.S. including caterers, pizzerias and delis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
You can make the hoagie yourself, or most delis offer catering-size hoagies and sandwich trays, if you’re not in the cooking mood.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2025
The rising cost of eggs has left one of the most famous delis in Los Angeles scrambling to keep up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2025
Now I get mocked by these groceries, pizza places, ice-cream stores, delis, Chinese places, bakeries, sushi joints, McDonald’ses.
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
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.
