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mail-order house

American  

noun

  1. a retail firm that conducts its business by receiving orders and shipping its merchandise through the mail and that supplies its customers with catalogs, circulars, etc.

Etymology

Origin of mail-order house

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

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.

DM is also currently being sued by a watch company, a furniture mail-order house, a concocter of hair restorer and a bubble-bath maker.

From Time Magazine Archive

They own a chain of 43 stores, patterned after Woolworth's, a big mail-order house and sit as directors on at least 22 companies.

From Time Magazine Archive

He had bought it from a Chicago mail-order house on March 20, along with a four-power telescopic sight.

From Time Magazine Archive

To his collection of 2,600 retail stores in Britain, Canada and South Africa, Sir Isaac has lately added the biggest mail-order house in The Netherlands.

From Time Magazine Archive

These outlines were sent to the mail-order house, and they sent you shoes to fit the brown wrapping-paper feet.

From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson

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.