newsstand
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of newsstand
Explanation
A newsstand is a stand (also called a stall) that holds newspapers, magazines, comic books, and other periodicals. Sometimes there are newsstands in train stations, so you don’t have to just stand there and wait, you can read the news! The word newsstand is basically news and stand smushed together. Sometimes you still see it hyphenated, as in news-stand, but they’ve been together long enough to ditch the hyphen. It is exactly what it sounds like — a stand that sells news. A newsstand is usually a booth on a busy corner, in building lobby, or anywhere people might like to buy something to read. It’s a good word for hangman because there are two s’s in the middle.
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.
For seven days in early October, Anthropic’s large language model Claude was the brand-in-residence at the Air Mail newsstand, the physical outpost for the digital magazine founded by former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter.
From MarketWatch • Oct. 11, 2025
“A handwritten sign on a wall, a name on a doorplate, a flyer on a telephone pole, or an unusual magazine at a newsstand would spin me toward a story.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
Lowrider magazine was once among the bestselling newsstand automotive periodicals in the country.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2025
Time's annual announcement of their "Person of the Year" is a rare newsstand event and a closely guarded secret.
From Salon • Dec. 11, 2024
It gets hot sitting in Mama’s car with no AC, so I cross the street to a supernatural newsstand tucked inside an alleyway.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
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.
