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:
Citi upgraded Harley-Davidson to Buy, citing improving retail sales and dealer sentiment, with the returning Sportster offering another potential boost.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
TalkTalk has 1.5 million retail customers and one million wholesale customers across the UK.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
“From an investment perspective, this may reinforce the company’s competitive positioning as the broadest retail ecosystem in the United States.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
That rate hit a fresh high of 12% on pools of conduit loans that include retail, office, hotel, multifamily and other property types, according to Deutsche Bank data.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 3, 2026
Dad asked me questions about economics and retail management and sports.
From "Out of My Mind" by Sharon M. Draper
That is good business: The company sells a school kit that includes four LifeVac devices and retails for nearly $280, though it offers schools a 20% discount.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
The company did not immediately respond to questions from AFP on plans for a potential new generation of aibo, or on sales in the United States, where it retails for more than $3,000.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
The treatment, which is not approved for use in the United States, retails from Minicircle at $25,000 per shot.
From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2026
With its cream-coloured, old stone buildings and blankets of bright yellow daffodils, the village appears to be an unlikely location for fly-tipping, even if the litter in question retails at more than £10 a bottle.
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026
We have publications to-day, and we are paying large royalties on the full retail price of the article, which never retails for that price, and in most cases at one-half that price.
From Arguments before the Committee on Patents of the House of Representatives, on H. R. 11943, to Amend Title 60, Chapter 3, of the Revised Statutes of the United States Relating to Copyrights May 2, 1906. by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Patents
Take computers: The first Apple II retailed for $1,298 in 1977, equal to about $7,000 today.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 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
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
But the tech won't come cheap - retailing at $2,195 in the US and £1,995 in the UK.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
Those pillows are their best-selling gift item, retailing at $59.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Profit from Berkshire’s portfolio of manufacturing, service and retailing businesses—a group that includes industrial metal components, Duracell batteries and Flying J fuel stations—jumped 24% to $4.47 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
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
“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.
