retail
Americannoun
adjective
adverb
verb (used with object)
-
to sell at retail; sell directly to the consumer.
-
to relate or repeat in detail to others.
to retail scandal.
verb (used without object)
noun
adjective
adverb
verb
-
to sell or be sold in small quantities to consumers
-
(tr) to relate (gossip, scandal, etc) in detail, esp persistently
Usage
What does retail mean? Retail is the sale of goods to the person who will actually use the goods. It is often used to describe the consumer goods industry, as in Jade worked in retail over the summer break to earn money for school. Retail is also used to describe something related to sales at retail, as in While the wholesale price is low, the retail price is much higher because the store’s rent is also very high. To retail is to sell directly to the consumer or to be sold at retail. Example: The retail store down the road has a sale on all sorts of good stuff today.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
retailsimple
-
retailssimple
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have retailedperfect
-
has retailedperfect
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am retailingprogressive
-
are retailingprogressive
-
is retailingprogressive
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have been retailingperfect progressive
-
has been retailingperfect progressive
Past
-
retailedsimple
-
had retailedperfect
-
was retailingprogressive
-
were retailingprogressive
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had been retailingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of retail
First recorded in 1375–1425; (for the noun) late Middle English, from Anglo-French: “a cut,” derivative of retailler “to cut,” from re- re- + tailler “to cut” ( see tail 2); (for the verb) Middle English retailen, from Old French retailler
Explanation
If you buy a pair of jeans at your neighborhood Chique Boutique, you’re buying retail, but if you go to China and buy a boatload of jeans directly from the manufacturer, you’re buying wholesale, which is the opposite of retail. If you make your living growing flowers, you may have a retail shop where you sell to people buying flowers for themselves, and you may also have a wholesale business, where you sell flowers to florists and supermarkets who sell your flowers to their customers. As you have probably figured out, the retail shops — the florists and supermarkets — add their own markup to the wholesale price you charge them, so they can make a profit, too.
Vocabulary lists containing retail
Material World: Shopping Lingo
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 2
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Quartering Act (1765)
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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.
See Examples For:
Eastern, alongside advance retail and wholesale inventories for June.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Remnants of the old blue laws remain in some American states or localities where regulations place restrictions on the retail sale of alcohol on Sundays or—idiosyncratically—prohibit auto dealers from selling cars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Electricity rates rose 7.1% nationally in 2025, according to the Energy Information Administration’s measure of average retail revenue per kilowatt-hour, and are expected to keep climbing.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Ultimately analysts think Primark's new pricing is in response to a highly competitive retail environment.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
He wanted retail shops on the first floor, to generate income and allow him to employ as many women as possible; apartments would fill the second and third.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
She has just sold a replica of a Loewe t-shirt, which usually retails at $500, for $17.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
The 14-inch MacBook Pro, which once sold for $1,700, now retails for $2,000, while the iPad Air increased from $600 to $750.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
In the world of men’s fashion, Florsheim is a widely available and decidedly midtier option; it typically retails for about $145.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
Other U.S. economic data due Friday include retails sales at 8:30 a.m. and business inventories at 10 a.m.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 6, 2026
The fare provided at the latter is strictly German, but the former retails drinks of every description.
From Lights and Shadows of New York Life or, the Sights and Sensations of the Great City by McCabe, James Dabney
Joe Jones, who helped to invent the device in the late 1990s and has written a book about the experience, said it succeeded because iRobot kept it affordable: The first generation retailed for about $200.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026
The Air Jordan shoe, designed by Peter Moore, first retailed in 1985.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2025
They retailed for $399 and reportedly sold out immediately, or at least orders for them did.
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2024
The Ocean’s base model retailed for $38,999 with the highest trim version going for more than $60,000, until a series of sharp price cuts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2024
He retailed to them the curious interchange of phrases he had overheard on the journey from Aleppo.
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
De la Espriella, a 47-year-old criminal defense lawyer with a side hustle in online fashion retailing, talked little about economics on the campaign trail.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
Join Barron’s Live for a deep dive into the consumer economy and retailing business, and a discussion of retail stocks.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
The upgrade comes after figures released last week showed the economy grew by 0.6% in the first three months of the year, led by a rebound in areas such as retailing and construction.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
Don, a real-estate developer, famously decided to get into the retailing game when he couldn’t find a pair of Levi’s in his size.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
“Well,” Dad said, leaning back, “it's very good of you and Alice to worry, Brian, but the retailing sector is holding its own and Greenland is robust.”
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
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.
