warehouse

[noun wair-hous; verb wair-houz, -hous]

See more synonyms for warehouse on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural ware·hous·es

[wair-hou-ziz] /ˈwɛərˌhaʊ zɪz/.

a building, or a part of one, for the storage of goods, merchandise, etc.
British. a large retail store.
a building, or a part of one, in which wholesalers keep large stocks of merchandise, which they display and sell to retailers.

verb (used with object), ware·housed [wair-houzd] /ˈwɛərˌhaʊzd/, ware·hous·ing [wair-hou-zing] /ˈwɛərˌhaʊ zɪŋ/.

to place, deposit, or store in a warehouse.
to set aside or accumulate, as for future use.
to place in a government or bonded warehouse, to be kept until duties are paid.
Informal. to confine (the mentally ill) to large institutions for long-term custodial care.

Origin of warehouse

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at ware¹, house

Related formsmin·i·ware·house, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for warehouse

bin, shed, repository, stockpile, depository, depot, establishment, store, barn, storehouse, stockroom

Examples from the Web for warehouse

Contemporary Examples of warehouse

But much of that gear went missing from the warehouse before the Kiev unit ever saw action.
Corruption Eats Away at Ukraine Military
Charles McPhedran
October 21, 2014
The school itself could easily be mistaken for a warehouse or a big box national retail chain.
Native American Basketball Team in Wyoming Have Hoop Dreams Of Their Own
Robert Silverman
August 31, 2014
The next step was to steal one of the six pound tuna cans from the warehouse.
Tales of a Jailhouse Gourmet: How I learned to Cook in Prison
Daniel Genis
June 21, 2014
Warehouse farms might be the answer to the global food crisis.
America’s Next Agricultural Revolution Will Happen Indoors
Sarah Kunst
April 26, 2014
I worked in a warehouse packing surf supplies, a restaurant washing dishes, in retail, and I was a “sandwich artist” at Subway.
Margot Robbie on ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ and the Perils of Having Sex On Top of a Pile of Cash
Marlow Stern
January 8, 2014

Historical Examples of warehouse

A warehouse of facts, with poet and liar in joint ownership.
The Devil's Dictionary
Ambrose Bierce
He was at the warehouse with the earliest clerk and left it with the latest.
Cleveland Past and Present
Maurice Joblin
Then I promptly forgot all about her and ran off into a warehouse where the gang had gone to slide.
The Harbor
Ernest Poole
My father's warehouse, too, lost its mystery as I grew older.
The Harbor
Ernest Poole
As I drudged on down there in the warehouse, my bitterness became an obsession.
The Harbor
Ernest Poole

British Dictionary definitions for warehouse

warehouse

noun (ˈwɛəˌhaʊs)

a place where goods are stored prior to their use, distribution, or sale
See bonded warehouse
mainly British a large commercial, esp wholesale, establishment

verb (ˈwɛəˌhaʊz, -ˌhaʊs)

(tr) to store or place in a warehouse, esp a bonded warehouse

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for warehouse

mid-14c., from ware (n.) + house. Cf. Dutch warenhuis, German warenhaus. Meaning "large impersonal institution" is American English colloquial, first attested 1970.

1799, from warehouse (n.). In the colloquial sense from 1972. Related: Warehoused; warehousing.