warehouse

American  

[wair-hous, wair-houz, -hous] / ˈwɛərˌhaʊs, ˈwɛərˌhaʊz, -ˌhaʊs /

noun

plural

warehouses

1. a building, or a part of one, for the storage of goods, merchandise, etc.

2. British. a large retail store.

3. 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)

warehoused, warehousing

1. to place, deposit, or store in a warehouse.

2. to set aside or accumulate, as for future use.

3. to place in a government or bonded warehouse, to be kept until duties are paid.

4. Informal. to confine (the mentally ill) to large institutions for long-term custodial care.

warehouse British  

noun

1. a place where goods are stored prior to their use, distribution, or sale

2. See bonded warehouse

3. a large commercial, esp wholesale, establishment

---

verb

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

Other Word Forms

• miniwarehouse
  noun

Etymology

Origin of warehouse

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at ware ¹, house

Explanation

A warehouse is a place where a company stores things they are going to sell. If you order a book online, it is almost certainly shipped from a warehouse to your house. When a business has to store a lot of items, they often use a warehouse, or a large building, to keep them safe and organized until they're sold or made into a finished product. You can use the word warehouse as a verb, too: "I need to warehouse all these roller skates, because they're not selling as fast as I'd hoped." Warehouse combines ware, or "manufactured goods," and house. In other words, it's a place to house your wares.

Example Sentences

The third-party certifying body administers random testing throughout the growing process and tests each product that arrives at the company’s New Jersey warehouse before it is released to stores, according to the website.

From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026

Just north of Los Angeles, Evan Chambers’ glassblowing studio springs out from a small warehouse district like a scene from “Alice in Wonderland.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

However, the Japanese-owned car maker said it was in talks to cut about 10% of its European workforce, which included plans to close part of its warehouse in Barcelona and import cars to Nordic countries.

From BBC • May 5, 2026

The warehouse doesn’t handle pharmaceuticals, which are subject to strict government regulation.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

Once they’d snuck into a rave in a disused warehouse down in the Flats and danced until three, glow necklaces ringing their wrists and their throats.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng