grocer

American  

[groh-ser] / ˈgroʊ sər /

noun

grocers plural

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

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grocer British  

/ ˈɡrəʊsə /

noun

1. a dealer in foodstuffs and other household supplies

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• grocers
  plural

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

ABA Centers also sued Publix, accusing the grocer of failing to pay for care its health-plan administrators had authorized.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026

The grocer has also been involved in litigation with its landlord in Studio City that included a claim that Erewhon fell behind in its rent there.

From Los Angeles Times • May 30, 2026

I cook everything I can get from the expensive grocer near Hillcrest, but I want to cook something Bengali.

From Salon • May 9, 2026

Irwin also sees opportunities in South Africa as the economy begins to reap rewards from structural changes in recent years, with grocer Shoprite among his holdings.

From Barron's • May 7, 2026

A reporter cornered some grocer in an apron, or a woman in the door of her shop, both of them looking drawn and weary.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee