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

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 company is working on doubling its use of automation at this warehouse by the end of the year.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

Items at the New Jersey warehouse are held in stacks of reusable gray tote boxes.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

No matter how much sprucing up we did, that warehouse was not pretty.

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles