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Webster 1913 Edition


Retail

Re′tail

(rē′tāl)
,
Noun.
[F.
retaille
piece cut off, shred, paring, or OF.
retail
, from
retailler
. See
Retail
,
Verb.
]
The sale of commodities in small quantities or parcels; – opposed to
wholesale
; sometimes, the sale of commodities at second hand.

Re′tail

,
Adj.
Done at retail; engaged in retailing commodities; as a retail trade; a retail grocer.

Re-tail′

(rē̍-tāl′)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Retailed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Retailing
.]
[Cf. F.
retailler
to cut again; pref.
re-
re +
tailler
to cut. See
Retail
,
Noun.
,
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.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition


Retail

RETA'IL

,

Definition 2024


retail

retail

English

Noun

retail (uncountable)

  1. The sale of goods directly to the consumer; encompassing the storefronts, mail-order, websites, etc., and the corporate mechanisms, branding, advertising, etc. that support them, which are involved in the business of selling and point-of-sale marketing retail goods to the public.
    She works in retail.
  2. (colloquial) Retail price; full price; an abbreviated expression, meaning the full suggested price of a particular good or service, before any sale, discount, or other deal.
    I never pay retail for clothes.

Derived terms

See also

Translations

Adjective

retail (not comparable)

  1. Of or relating to the (actual or figurative) sale of goods or services directly to individuals.
    • 1997 December 28, “Freddie Mac establishes existing-home sales division”, in Deseret News:
      "This is a very retail approach for us," Czerw said. "But when you buy one out of every six home loans in the US, you are going to have a constant flow ..."
    • 1999 December 12, Naedine Joy Hazell, “TRAVEL INSIDER; Airport Malls Redefine 'Shopping on the Fly'”, in Los Angeles Times:
      The future for Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Conn., also looks very retail. Plans call for $156 million to expand the main terminal,
    • 2010 September 17, “Sarah Palin's visit to Iowa keeps fans guessing”, in Des Moines Register:
      But even with her level of celebrity, it would be very hard to win a race without engaging voters in a very retail way.

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

retail

  1. Direct to consumers, in retail quantities, or at retail prices.
    We've shut shown our reseller unit. We're only selling retail now.

Translations

Verb

retail (third-person singular simple present retails, present participle retailing, simple past and past participle retailed)

  1. To sell at retail, or in small quantities directly to customers.
    • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 223d.
      a half part of this purveying is carried on within the city and is called retailing.
  2. To repeat or circulate (news or rumours) to others.
    • 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 762:
      He became quite pale as he retailed these stories to Constance.
    • 1998 February 1, Alan Ryan, “Hot Spots (review of The Warrior's Honor: Ethnic War and the Modern Conscience by Michael Ignatieff)”, in The New York Times:
      The fantasies of blood libel that Bosnian Serbs retailed about Bosnian Muslims were the fantasies that Rhinelanders had centuries earlier retailed about the Jews they had murdered.

Translations

Anagrams


Spanish

Noun

retail m (uncountable)

  1. retail