deli

noun

ˈde-lē 

plural delis

: a store where ready-to-eat food products (such as cooked meats and prepared salads) are sold : delicatessen

You shuffle off to the deli and pick up a pastrami-on-rye and an egg cream. The bald man behind the counter whistles cheerfully as he slices the meat.

—Jay McInerney

Sixth Avenue in midtown was once lined with convenient, low-priced delis, cafeterias, coffee shops, and the like.

—Brendan Gill

also : the food sold at a delicatessen

If you're hungry for deli in Miami, only the Rascal House will do.

—Norman Kolpas

… a neat, orderly, well-lighted place so clean you could eat deli off the floor …

—Jack Fincher

—often used before another noun

deli meats/platters

waiting in line at the deli counter

Examples of deli in a Sentence

We bought sandwiches and drinks at the deli.

Recent Examples on the Web

After working for 25 years as deli manager of a Delchamps grocery store, Jacobs opened Dean’s Cake House in 1994 at the age of 60. —Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 1 July 2024

It was sold under the counter at a deli near our apartment to street users; empty foil bags of it littered the sidewalks, and a bad batch had once caused more than thirty people to be hospitalized in a single day. —Emily Witt, The New Yorker, 1 July 2024

Now, a signature aspect of the dish is the paper-thin beef slices, attained by using a deli slicer. —Aaron Hutcherson, Washington Post, 25 June 2024

When Inga returned to the deli around 1:30 a.m., the neighbors attacked, bounding his legs together with a belt until police arrived and arrested him. —Elizabeth Keogh, New York Daily News, 19 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

deli

noun

ˈdel-ē 

plural delis

: delicatessen sense 2