five-and-dime
noun
variants
or less commonly five-and-ten
plural five-and-dimes also five-and-tens
: a retail store that carries a variety of chiefly inexpensive merchandise
When I was a little girl you could still buy things at the five-and-dime.—
Nikki Giovanni
Nikki GiovanniBut most five-and-dimes faded away, done in by competition from big box stores, or failure to adapt to changing tastes quickly enough.—Carl Nolte
Carl NolteAfter the grocery store came the five-and-ten, a rambling, comfortable hodgepodge of unrelated items and scents.—Lee Ebler
Lee EblerExamples of five-and-dime in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Founded by Frank Winfield Woolworth in New York in 1879, the retail chain sold staple items from pencils to baseballs at low prices, often just a nickel or a dime, a revolutionary concept that helped Woolworth’s expand to 5,500 five-and-dime stores nationwide at its peak.
—Katya Cengel, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 May 2025
Some say it was first made at a five-and-dime shop on the city’s downtown square in the 1950s.
—Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 14 May 2025
The location was formerly home to a dry cleaners in a building that also held a supermarket, a pharmacy and a five-and-dime store.
—Bud Kennedy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Feb. 2025
The casualties of the times — a historic farm property, an independent pharmacy, an old-school five-and-dime — got their due in her column.
—Linda Zavoral, The Mercury News, 21 Feb. 2025
Some considered Woolworth’s the first national discounter, but Woolworth’s is best classified as a Main Street, five-and-dime store, with counters for sandwiches and chocolate egg cremes.
—David Moin, WWD, 21 Oct. 2024
The retailer started as part of the five-and-dime variety chain that included the retail graveyard nameplates McCrory’s and Woolworth.
—Vicki M. Young, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2019
The location was formerly home to a dry cleaners in a building that also held a supermarket, a pharmacy and a five-and-dime store.
—Bud Kennedy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Feb. 2025
The casualties of the times — a historic farm property, an independent pharmacy, an old-school five-and-dime — got their due in her column.
—Linda Zavoral, The Mercury News, 21 Feb. 2025
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Katya Cengel, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 May 2025
Some say it was first made at a five-and-dime shop on the city’s downtown square in the 1950s.
—Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 14 May 2025
The location was formerly home to a dry cleaners in a building that also held a supermarket, a pharmacy and a five-and-dime store.
—Bud Kennedy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Feb. 2025
The casualties of the times — a historic farm property, an independent pharmacy, an old-school five-and-dime — got their due in her column.
—Linda Zavoral, The Mercury News, 21 Feb. 2025
Some considered Woolworth’s the first national discounter, but Woolworth’s is best classified as a Main Street, five-and-dime store, with counters for sandwiches and chocolate egg cremes.
—David Moin, WWD, 21 Oct. 2024
The retailer started as part of the five-and-dime variety chain that included the retail graveyard nameplates McCrory’s and Woolworth.
—Vicki M. Young, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2019
The location was formerly home to a dry cleaners in a building that also held a supermarket, a pharmacy and a five-and-dime store.
—Bud Kennedy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Feb. 2025
The casualties of the times — a historic farm property, an independent pharmacy, an old-school five-and-dime — got their due in her column.
—Linda Zavoral, The Mercury News, 21 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Five-and-dime.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/five-and-dime. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025.
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