retail
Americannoun
adjective
adverb
verb (used with object)
-
retails,
present (3rd person singular)
-
retailed,
past participle, past
-
retailing
present participle
-
to sell at retail; sell directly to the consumer.
-
to relate or repeat in detail to others.
to retail scandal.
verb (used without object)
-
retails,
present (3rd person singular)
-
retailed,
past participle, past
-
retailing
present participle
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
-
have retailedperfect
-
has retailedperfect
-
am retailingprogressive
-
are retailingprogressive
-
is retailingprogressive
-
have been retailingperfect progressive
-
has been retailingperfect progressive
Past
-
retailedsimple
-
had retailedperfect
-
was retailingprogressive
-
were retailingprogressive
-
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:
From airlines to retail to your private equity-owned veterinarian, companies’ pricing power has risen at consumers’ expense.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
The deal, its newly minted CEO said at the time, would allow the chain to renew “our focus on our core pharmacy and retail platform, our stores and our customer experience.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
Tiara Allen arrived on time to interview for a retail job.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Employment in wholesale and retail trade in Canada continues to trend lower, falling by about 29,000 in October.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 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
“If they’re going to have a car that has a road map to autonomy, and it retails for less than the average new car in the United States, that’s a pretty positive formula.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
So if we stick to a toy that retails for $30 in the US, and therefore costs $6 to make in China, the cost of getting it to the states is 60 cents.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The Apple 18 Pro retails from $1,199 and the Pro Max’s pricing starts at $1,299.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
The precious metal continues a two-week advance after weaker U.S. retails sales and softer consumer sentiment weighed on the dollar and reduced expectations of a rate hike, MUFG’s Soojin Kim writes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
He retails the commonplaces of the despairing lover: Deh, non fuggire, e non si altiera in vista; Odime alquanto, e scolta i preghi mei.
From Pastoral Poetry and Pastoral Drama A Literary Inquiry, with Special Reference to the Pre-Restoration Stage in England by Walter W. Greg
General admission passes to the three-day festival originally retailed at $649 and $549 for the festival’s two weekends, respectively, with VIP tickets priced at double.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
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 family is now down to their last tube and Ms Rabbett has hit out at online sellers charging £30 for a product which had retailed for less than £6.
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2025
They retailed for $399 and reportedly sold out immediately, or at least orders for them did.
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2024
An ounce of phosphorus retailed for six guineas–perhaps five hundred dollars in today’s money–or more than gold.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Amazon and Walmart have taken on major roles in drug retailing, putting the squeeze on the pharmacy chains’ finances.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
By this he meant that companies like CVS are facing increasing government skepticism about the wisdom of combining drug retailing, pharmacy management and health insurance under one roof.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
That is a key measure for making money in online retailing; it costs roughly the same to ship $100 worth of clothing as it does $1,000.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Those pillows are their best-selling gift item, retailing at $59.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 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
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