wholesale

1 of 4

noun

whole·​sale ˈhōl-ˌsāl 

: the sale of commodities in quantity usually for resale (as by a retail merchant)

wholesale

2 of 4

adjective

1

: performed or existing on a large scale especially without discrimination

wholesale slaughter

2

: of, relating to, or engaged in the sale of commodities in quantity for resale

a wholesale grocer

wholesale

3 of 4

adverb

: in a wholesale manner

wholesale

4 of 4

verb

wholesaled; wholesaling

transitive verb

: to sell (something) in quantity usually for resale

intransitive verb

: to sell in quantity usually for resale

Examples of wholesale in a Sentence

Adjective

The crops originated from wholesale growers.

Is that price retail or wholesale?

Verb

The company wholesales clothing to boutiques in the area.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

When wholesales prices start to fall, retailers are often slow to cut their pump prices. — Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 24 June 2026

But the exit from wholesale also left space on store shelves that were filled by competitors. — Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 24 June 2026

Adjective

Will coach Mauricio Pochettino make wholesale changes? — David Hickey, NBC news, 25 June 2026

That option would allow Naperville to obtain its own power generation and storage infrastructure while buying and selling electricity on the wholesale market. — Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 27 June 2026

Adverb

It got picked up wholesale from blog to blog and Tumblr to Tumblr so rapidly that the pedigree of it got lost. — Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 10 Aug. 2012

Last year, the decades-old chemotherapy drug fludarabine could be purchased wholesale for $110. — Tony Paquin and David Sanders, STAT, 14 Dec. 2022

Verb

The company doesn’t wholesale its collection. — Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 8 May 2026

Linn works with Midwest manufacturers to purchase thousands of items and then wholesales them to other stores. — Adrienne Roberts, Freep.com, 23 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1607, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Adverb

1696, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1792, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for wholesale

• abigail
• cottontail
• countervail
• fingernail
• martingale
• mesoscale
• microscale
• monorail
• nanoscale
• ponytail
• swallowtail
• wensleydale

Kids Definition

wholesale

1 of 3 noun

whole·​sale ˈhōl-ˌsāl 

: the sale of goods in large quantity usually for resale (as by a store owner)

wholesale

2 of 3 adjective

1

: of, relating to, or engaged in the sale of goods in quantity for resale

a wholesale grocer

wholesale prices

2

: done on a large scale : general

wholesale changes in the team's roster

wholesale adverb

wholesale

3 of 3 verb

wholesaled; wholesaling

: to sell usually in large amounts for resale

wholesaler noun