Adjacent Words

Retail definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

RETA'IL,
RETAIL, v.t.
1. To sell in small quantities or parcels, from the sense of cutting or dividing; opposed to selling by wholesale; as, to retail cloth or groceries.
2. To sell at second hand.
3. To tell in broken parts; to tell to many; as, to retail slander or idle reports.
RE'TAIL, n. The sale of commodities in small quantities or parcels, or at second hand.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the selling of goods to consumers; usually in small quantities and not for resale [ant: wholesale] v
1: be sold at the retail level; "These gems retail at thousands of dollars each"
2: sell on the retail market [ant: wholesale] adv
1: at a retail price; "I'll sell it to you retail only" [ant: wholesale]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. to sell in small quantities directly to the ultimate consumer 2. tell, retell intransitive verb to sell at retail • retailer noun II. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French retaille cutting, deduction, retail, from retailler to cut out, from re- + tailler to cut — more at tailor Date: 15th century the sale of commodities or goods in small quantities to ultimate consumers; also the industry of such selling III. adjective Date: 1601 of, relating to, or engaged in the sale of commodities at retail <retail trade> IV. adverb Date: 1784 in small quantities ; from a retailer

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n., adj., adv., & v. --n. the sale of goods in relatively small quantities to the public, and usu. not for resale (cf. WHOLESALE). --adj. & adv. by retail; at a retail price (do you buy wholesale or retail?). --v. also 1 tr. sell (goods) in retail trade. 2 intr. (often foll. by at, of) (of goods) be sold in this way (esp. for a specified price) (retails at £4.95). 3 tr. recount; relate details of. Phrases and idioms: retail price index an index of the variation in the prices of retail goods. Derivatives: retailer n. Etymology: ME f. OF retaille a piece cut off f. retaillier (as RE-, TAIL(2))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Retail Re"tail, a. Done at retail; engaged in retailing commodities; as a retail trade; a retail grocer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Retail Re*tail", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Retailed;p. pr. & vb. n. Retailing.] [Cf. F. retailler to cut again; pref. re- re + tailler to cut. See Retail, n., Tailor, and cf. Detail.] 1. To sell in small quantities, as by the single yard, pound, gallon, etc.; to sell directly to the consumer; as, to retail cloth or groceries. 2. To sell at second hand. [Obs. or R.] --Pope. 3. To distribute in small portions or at second hand; to tell again or to many (what has been told or done); to report; as, to retail slander. ``To whom I will retail my conquest won.'' --Shak. He is wit's peddler, and retails his wares At wakes and wassails. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Retail Re"tail, n. [F. retaille piece cut off, shred, paring, or OF. retail, from retailler. See Retail, v.] The sale of commodities in small quantities or parcels; -- opposed to wholesale; sometimes, the sale of commodities at second hand.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(retails, retailing, retailed) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Retail is the activity of selling goods direct to the public, usually in small quantities. Compare wholesale. (BUSINESS) ...retail stores... Retail sales grew just 3.8 percent last year. N-UNCOUNT: usu N n 2. If something is sold retail, it is sold in ordinary shops direct to the public. (BUSINESS) ADV: ADV after v 3. If an item in a shop retails at or for a particular price, it is on sale at that price. (BUSINESS) It originally retailed at £23.50. = sell VERB: V at/for n see also retailing

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Sell in small quantities. 2. Deal out in small portions.

Moby Thesaurus

battologize, be in, bestrew, bill of sale, broadcast, business, carry, circumfuse, close out, commercial, convert into cash, cut under, deal in, deal out, demand, diffract, diffuse, dispense, disperse, dispread, disseminate, distribute, diverge, dump, effect a sale, fan out, fill, give an encore, go over, go through, handle, industrial, issue, iterate, job, make a sale, market, marketing, mass market, mercantile, merchandise, merchandising, merchant, move, outlet, overscatter, oversow, overspread, pad, practice, propagate, publish, radiate, reaffirm, reassert, recapitulate, recite, recount, rehash, rehearse, reissue, reiterate, reprint, resell, restate, resume, retailing, retell, review, reword, run over, sacrifice, sale, sales, say over, say over again, scatter, sell, sell off, sell on consignment, sell out, sell over, sell retail, sell short, sell up, sell wholesale, selling, sow, sow broadcast, splay, spread, spread out, strew, sum up, summarize, tautologize, tie-in, trade, trade in, trading, traffic in, turn into money, turn over, turnover, undercut, undersell, unload, utter, wholesale, wholesaling