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flea market

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR flea market ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a market, often outdoors, consisting of a number of individual stalls selling old or used articles, curios and antiques, cut-rate merchandise, etc.

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Origin of flea market

First recorded in 1920–25
Related formsflea-mar·ket·er, flea-mar·ket·eer, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for flea market

Contemporary Examples of flea market

  • It's a very cozy place, and the dining area is furnished with flea-market furniture from the '60s and '70s.

    The Daily Beast logo
    Fresh Picks

    Clotilde Dusoulier

    January 12, 2010

Historical Examples of flea market

  • The third was outside of San Francisco, in a gigantic ghost-mall that was already being used as a flea-market.

    Makers

    Cory Doctorow

British Dictionary definitions for flea market

flea market

noun

an open-air market selling cheap and often second-hand goods
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for flea market
n.

1917, especially in reference to the marché aux puces in Paris, so-called "because there are so many second-hand articles sold of all kinds that they are believed to gather fleas." [E.S. Dougherty, "In Europe," 1922].

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with flea market

flea market

A market, usually held outdoors, where used goods and antiques are sold. For example, We picked up half of our furniture at flea markets. The term is a direct translation of the French marché aux puces and presumably implies that some of the used clothes and furniture might be flea-infested. [1920s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.