supermarket
Americannoun
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supermarkets
plural
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a large retail market that sells food and other household goods and that is usually operated on a self-service basis.
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any business or company offering an unusually wide range of goods or services.
a financial supermarket that sells stocks, bonds, insurance, and real estate.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of supermarket
Explanation
A supermarket is a store that sells groceries and other goods. Although supermarkets are primarily places to buy food, nowadays you can find everything from shampoo to toys to bestselling novels at a large supermarket. The distinguishing characteristics of a supermarket are that it sells food and household products, and that shoppers serve themselves, often pushing grocery carts and filling them with items. Though some people think of supermarkets as being much larger than grocery stores, others use the two terms interchangeably. This American-coined word first appeared in print in the early 1930s.
Vocabulary lists containing supermarket
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:
I tried it recently in my neighborhood supermarket and discovered, phone in hand, that a package of Earthbound Farm broccoli florets had a Taylor Farms connection I would otherwise never have known about.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
Will we now have Meghan's As Ever jam sitting alongside the King's Duchy Organic products on supermarket shelves?
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Shares of Walmart declined on Thursday after the world’s largest supermarket chain reported disappointing U.S. comparable sales growth, after drug prices were hit by changes to regulations on Medicaid prescribed medication.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
GLP-1 users’ subdued urges and impulses pose a particular challenge for the racks of snacks sold in convenience stores and supermarket checkout aisles, where consumption often occurs within 30 minutes of purchase.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
She opened her money box and walked down to the supermarket.
From "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman
From the first hint of cold winter mornings, supermarkets and pharmacies begin heavy marketing to coax us to stock up on vitamin C to get through the cold and flu season.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
This week, some supermarkets in Tehran temporarily ran out of cooking oil and rice as shoppers scooped them for hoarding, residents said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Before the July 4 holiday, an Agriculture Department official had called executives at some of America’s top supermarkets to lower the prices of beef sold to consumers, the Journal previously reported.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
They are expected to settle down on the Saturday and Sunday but shops and supermarkets are expected to be busier than usual.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
She took long bus rides to faraway department stores and supermarkets where she’d window-shop for hours and spend fifty cents.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
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.
