grocer

noun

gro·​cer ˈgrō-sər  -shər 

: a dealer in staple foodstuffs, meats, produce, and dairy products and usually household supplies

Examples of grocer in a Sentence

Ask your local grocer if he sells organic fruits and vegetables.

Recent Examples on the Web

Start pitching grocers with that placement in mind. —Greg Vetter, Forbes.com, 19 May 2025

The redevelopment includes a new 80,000 square-foot store for outstanding regional grocer ShopRite and incorporates tearing down or repurposing former department stores to open sightlines and make way for more top brands. —Footwear News, 19 May 2025

Chinese grocers in the Delta sold to Black residents, whom white merchants did not want to serve and who, in the immediate afterlife of slavery (when Black people had to rely on plantation commissaries), had not amassed enough capital to purchase or open stores themselves. —Erika Hayasaki, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 May 2025

By contrast, wholesale egg prices -- the amount grocers pay to suppliers -- have dropped significantly since Trump took office, food economists previously told ABC News. —Max Zahn, ABC News, 3 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English grocer, grosser "wholesale dealer in preserved foods, spices, wine, etc.," borrowed from Anglo-French groser, grosser, grossour (Middle French grossier), from gros "the greater part, the bulk," en gros "wholesale, in bulk" (derivative of gros, adjective, "large, great, coarse") + -er, -our -er entry 2 — more at gross entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for grocer

• closer
• grosser
• greengrocer

Kids Definition

grocer

noun

gro·​cer ˈgrō-sər 

: a dealer in food and household supplies