flea market

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.

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.
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

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].

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]