supermarket
Americannoun
-
supermarkets
plural
-
a large retail market that sells food and other household goods and that is usually operated on a self-service basis.
-
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:
On another occasion, Pillinger loaded a Beagle 2 replica into a supermarket trolley and wheeled it around The Open University's car park, demonstrating its compact size to cameras.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
The paper says the move was an "attempt to challenge Tesco" and would have been a "fresh test of regulators' appetite for consolidation in the fiercely competitive supermarket industry".
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
I have time to buy in bulk and to watch for good deals at the supermarket.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
“I’m aware of higher gas prices — how can you not be? And supermarket prices are insidious,” said Heideman, 67, who lives in Vermont.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
"That's how it worked out," Mrs. Fayne said as she pulled the van into the supermarket parking lot.
From "Scream for Ice Cream: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #2" by Carolyn Keene
But with energy companies already talking about scheduled power cuts and supermarkets experiencing periodic shortages of some goods, the pressures to leave are growing.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
In recent months, the stores have only had a few pounds of rice and sugar for sale, leaving shoppers at the mercy of state-run supermarkets that operate in dollars or small private stores.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Sugary soft drinks, biscuits and some breakfast cereals have disappeared from prominent positions in Scotland's supermarkets.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
In Dmyterko's shop, new customers arrive as her shelves have not been as badly hit by shortages and inflation as bigger supermarkets.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
We think of our supermarkets as offering a huge variety of food.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
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.
