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:
But he acknowledged that the retail environment remained uneven, with lower-income households – a core part of Walmart's base – feeling squeezed.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Equity investors will look to earnings from U.S. retail giant Walmart.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
After government data showed growth slipping below that range in the second quarter, the data for July showed retail sales declining compared to last year.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
Of the two, the State Street ETF has done better because it is more diversified into home-furnishing retail and building materials.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
Dad constantly used to tell me I was too smart for retail.
From "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer
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
To illustrate, consider a scenario in which you purchase an iPhone 17 standard model, which retails for around $800, with bitcoin that you purchased for half its current price.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 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
While she is getting them, the colonel's cook retails the cream of all the regimental gossip.
From A Volunteer Poilu by Henry Beston
A silk shirtdress in 1979 retailed for $130.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
They retailed for $399 and reportedly sold out immediately, or at least orders for them did.
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2024
His latest pick, an embossed biker jacket from American fashion house Tom Ford, retailed for almost $9,000.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2024
It does not disclose detailed retailed sales but a spokesperson said they were positive in the third quarter and on a nine-month basis.
From Reuters ● Oct. 10, 2023
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
The company was founded just two years ago but already rivals leading manufacturers such as Europe's Ducati and Japanese giants Yamaha and Honda with a bike retailing for a fraction of their prices.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
"But if you go to some places over in Europe and the States, the cost of a simple lettuce could be $2.99. In the UK, it's retailing at 80p to £1."
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Moreover, a wide array of indexes moved higher on the month, including truck transportation of freight, fuels and lubricants retailing, health, beauty, optical goods and legal services.
From Barron's ● May 13, 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.
