grocer

[groh-ser]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR grocer ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the owner or operator of a store that sells general food supplies and certain nonedible articles of household use, as soaps and paper products.

Nearby words

Origin of grocer

1325–75; Middle English < Old French gross(i)er wholesale merchant. See gross, -er²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for grocer

The grocer associations and food companies face a political conundrum.
Supermarkets and Retailers Turn Blind Eye to Food Stamp Funding Cuts|Miranda Green|September 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Costco is doing very well for a grocer, but very poorly for a department store, the category to which Walmart technically belongs.
Why Can’t Walmart Be More Like Costco?|Megan McArdle|November 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST
At Walmart, which is many peoples' grocer, clothier, and auto supply shop, long lines would cost them a lot of business.
Why Can’t Walmart Be More Like Costco?|Megan McArdle|November 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST
In the essay, Havel imagines a grocer hanging a "Workers of the World, Unite!"
John Avlon: Vaclav Havel's Heroic Politics of Truth and Responsibility|John Avlon|December 19, 2011|DAILY BEAST

Barthelemy moved into her $800-a-month apartment after a Bangladeshi friend saw an ad at the grocer on the corner.
The Serial Killer Victim's Secret Life|Christine Pelisek, Roja Heydarpour|April 24, 2011|DAILY BEAST
His master had a book for the butcher and a different one for his account with the grocer.
Birds and Nature, Vol. 12 No. 3 [August 1902]|Various
She went to see the grocer's wife on an interesting occasion, and won the heart of the family by tasting their candle.
The Newcomes|William Makepeace Thackeray
At first we didn't buy anything there, till a long-legged Englishman told my Baron that this grocer kept a fine Hungarian wine.
The Story Of The Little Mamsell|Charlotte Niese
The road to it might lie through the cellar of a grocer's shop, but he would not flinch.
Two Little Savages|Ernest Thompson Seton
The grocer was going about on tip-toe in honor of the day, and was serving the dirty little urchins with ceremonious bows.
Pelle the Conqueror, Complete|Martin Anderson Nexo

British Dictionary definitions for grocer

grocer

noun

a dealer in foodstuffs and other household supplies

Word Origin for grocer

C15: from Old French grossier, from gros large; see gross

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 grocer

grocer

early 15c. (mid-13c. as a surname), "one who buys and sells in gross," from Anglo-French grosser, Old French grossier, from Medieval Latin grossarius "wholesaler," literally "dealer in quantity," from Late Latin grossus "coarse (of food), great, gross" (see gross). Sense of "a merchant selling individual items of food" is 16c.

grocer

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of grocer

Examples from the Web for grocer

grocer

noun

Word Origin for grocer

grocer