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
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retailssimple
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have retailedperfect
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has retailedperfect
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am retailingprogressive
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are retailingprogressive
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is retailingprogressive
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have been retailingperfect progressive
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has been retailingperfect progressive
Past
-
retailedsimple
-
had retailedperfect
-
was retailingprogressive
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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:
Primark, which has more than 190 UK stores, has been experiencing a drop in like-for-like sales, a key measure in the retail industry.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
"It's the kind of headline you'd expect from M&S or Next," says retail analyst Natalie Berg, explaining that price cuts like this from such a low-cost retailer are surprising.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Also in Yekaterinburg, Russian online retail giant Wildberries said it had evacuated its staff over a drone threat, but said its facility had not been damaged.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
One of the biggest losers has been Nike, which has been a dominant athletics retail brand in China since at least the 1990s, but is steadily losing ground to local rivals with fresher brand identities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Insofar as the poor have to work near the dwellings of the rich—as in the case of so many service and retail jobs—they are stuck with lengthy commutes or dauntingly expensive housing.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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
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
The MoonSwatch boosted demand for the Omega Speedmaster, which currently retails for around $8,000, among a new generation of consumers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 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
"I get excellent tea in the City which retails at two shillings a pound," he said.
From Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, October 21, 1914 by Various
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
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
He called himself the Jackie Robinson of retailing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 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
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
“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.
