1
: being or relating to a small owner-operated business
a mom-and-pop grocery
2

Examples of mom-and-pop in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The Ontario Small Business Community, which showcases local mom-and-pop shops, chimed in too. Jireh Deng, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2024 Between Lake Worth and Lantana, just south, there are plenty of mom-and-pop hotels within a short bike ride of the beaches, including Beachway Inn and Barefoot Mailman Inn & Suites. Terry Ward, Travel + Leisure, 2 June 2024 The courtroom days have repeatedly touched on his penchant for payback, his love of fixers to defend him, his obsession with being seen as a playboy, his business practices at what is essentially a mom-and-pop company. Maggie Haberman, New York Times, 25 May 2024 Eckles said the district has had great success finding community partners, from mom-and-pop shops to international companies such as Heidelberg Materials. Thomas Goodwin Smith, Baltimore Sun, 24 May 2024 Since 1971, Pequod’s has maintained its status as a mom-and-pop shop, still running just two stores and relying heavily on walk-in customers and delivery from apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash, which increased the pizzeria’s customer radius by at least 20 miles. Eric Kim, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 May 2024 In downtown Vallejo, the mom-and-pop medicinal pot shop ReLeaf Alternative Healing, founded in 2011, was bought in 2021 by Coastal, which has retail, delivery, manufacturing and distribution licenses across the state. Lisa M. Krieger, The Mercury News, 21 May 2024 The industry is facing a crisis as new legislation, inflation, higher wages and pandemic fallout have chefs and owners worried for the future of mom-and-pop restaurants. Kevinisha Walker, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2024 This led to a sector that was highly fragmented and dominated by ‘mom-and-pop’ practices that typically used antiquated software and lacked marketing expertise, while their physical offices were often dreary and out-of-date. Luisa Beltran, Fortune, 13 May 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mom-and-pop.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1945, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of mom-and-pop was in 1945

Dictionary Entries Near mom-and-pop

Cite this Entry

“Mom-and-pop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mom-and-pop. Accessed 15 Jun. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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