grocer
Americannoun
-
grocers
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of grocer
1325–75; Middle English < Old French gross ( i ) er wholesale merchant. See gross, -er 2
Explanation
Someone who sells food in a supermarket or convenience store is a grocer. If you can't find your favorite kind of cereal on the shelf, you should ask the grocer to help you. The owner or manager of a grocery store is a grocer. This word once meant "one who buys and sells in gross," or in large quantities, from the Anglo-French grosser. By the 16th century, grocer also meant "merchant selling food," but earlier that person would've been called a spicer. Your neighborhood grocer might sell fresh produce from local farmers, unlike that big box supermarket out by the mall.
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:
The bargain grocer is closing under-performing locations, including in San Diego and Orange counties.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
In fact, the building's own website completely omits the discount grocer from its curated online neighbourhood guide, choosing instead to highlight pricier nearby options like Whole Foods and Brooklyn Fare.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Walmart is America’s largest grocer and was ranked the nation’s top retailer by the National Retail Federation, with U.S. retail sales of $576 billion last year.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
It could call a grocer, order ingredients, insisting on it all being upscale, and have those ingredients delivered, unpack and load the fridge and then use my appliances to make dinner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
The grocer waved him off and shoved the bottle into his hand.
From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers
O'Malley said consumers could feel the impact in the vegetable aisle too, where grocers are likely to swap in smaller produce at the same price, which is known as shrinkflation.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Its clientele includes top grocers like Walmart, Amazon.com’s Whole Foods Market and Costco, along with restaurant chains such as Taco Bell and McDonald’s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
The traditional "big four" grocers at the time - Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons - were slow to respond to the new competition, leaving the challengers to gradually pick off their shoppers.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
An Agriculture Department official called top grocers, including Walmart, Kroger and Albertsons, to ask about plans for beef prices heading into the July 4 holiday weekend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
When he stands it’s like he’s on display in one of Emmett’s fancy grocers.
From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers
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.
