vendor
Americannoun
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law a person who sells something, esp real property
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another name for vending machine
Usage
What is a vendor? A vendor is a person or business that sells something, as in The school lunch really improved after it changed food vendors. A vendor is also a machine that dispenses items after you put money into it. It’s more often called a vending machine. Example: The vendor told me that the box has a scratch, so she’s selling it cheap.
Etymology
Origin of vendor
1585–95; < Anglo-French vendo ( u ) r < Latin venditor. See vend, -or 2
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.
Her son, Brian Arias Garay, went missing on Feb. 6, 2018, en route to his job as a vendor at a hot dog and hamburger stand.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026
Snack vendor Mhekyle Salazar, 22, said she was relieved that pilgrims were showing up despite higher transportation costs.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
One vendor sold t-shirts with captions proclaiming “LEGEND” alternatively accompanying pictures of Charlie Kirk or, for some reason, Andy Griffith and Don Knotts together in costume from The Andy Griffith Show.
From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026
He razed the house where he grew up and built his restaurant on the land where his father had been a roadside vendor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026
The fruit vendor put her arm around Yuni and squeezed her for comfort.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
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.
