: the sale of commodities in quantity usually for resale (as by a retail merchant)
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
: in a wholesale manner
wholesaled; wholesaling
: to sell (something) in quantity usually for resale
: 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
Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 22 May 2025
Revenue from stores, wholesale and DTC is on track to exceed $20 million this year.
—Alison Coleman, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025
Merritt Enright, CNBC, 24 May 2025
The plan is to open no more than 20 globally so the company can continue to service its most-important wholesale clients such as Bergdorf Goodman in New York and Stanley Korshak in Dallas.
—Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 24 May 2025
Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 10 Aug. 2012
ByteStyle, the company’s code of values, preaches a culture that could have been lifted wholesale from Google or Amazon: diverse, inclusive, radically honest and transparent.
—Alex W. Palmer, New York Times, 20 Dec. 2022
Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 16 Apr. 2025
From headquarters in the city’s most upscale mixed-use building, The Main Las Olas, BBX Capital operates subsidiaries ranging from real estate development to logistics to retail confections to door manufacturing and wholesaling.
—David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 8 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wholesale
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Noun
The campaign will run globally, in stores, e-commerce and at wholesale.
—Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 22 May 2025
Revenue from stores, wholesale and DTC is on track to exceed $20 million this year.
—Alison Coleman, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025
Adjective
Around the time of On’s 2021 initial public offering, Nike saw declining sales during a pullback from wholesale retailers and stalling innovation.
—Merritt Enright, CNBC, 24 May 2025
The plan is to open no more than 20 globally so the company can continue to service its most-important wholesale clients such as Bergdorf Goodman in New York and Stanley Korshak in Dallas.
—Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 24 May 2025
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
ByteStyle, the company’s code of values, preaches a culture that could have been lifted wholesale from Google or Amazon: diverse, inclusive, radically honest and transparent.
—Alex W. Palmer, New York Times, 20 Dec. 2022
Verb
The company wholesales its collection to Neiman Marcus, Goop and specialty stores.
—Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 16 Apr. 2025
From headquarters in the city’s most upscale mixed-use building, The Main Las Olas, BBX Capital operates subsidiaries ranging from real estate development to logistics to retail confections to door manufacturing and wholesaling.
—David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 8 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wholesale
Cite this Entry
“Wholesale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wholesale. Accessed 29 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids 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 adjective1
: 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
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