off-sales

British

plural noun

sales of alcoholic drink for consumption off the premises by a pub or an off-licence attached to a pub

"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

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.

Northern Ireland has one of the strictest alcohol licensing systems in Europe, wherein anyone wanting to open a pub or off-sales must buy an existing licence from another business which has closed.

From BBC • May 31, 2026

Instead it is building a pub, as its licence comes with the legal right to operate an off-sales section.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

Lidl was unable to get a standard off-sales licence for its shop in Dundonald in east Belfast.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

The proposed scheme involved reaching agreement with the owners of a local bar to surrender that licence and spending £410,000 for a new in-store pub alongside an off-sales area.

From BBC • Jan. 29, 2025

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023