wholesale

noun

whole·sale | \ ˈhōl-ˌsāl

Definition of wholesale

(Entry 1 of 4)

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

wholesale

adjective

Definition of wholesale (Entry 2 of 4)

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

adverb

Definition of wholesale (Entry 3 of 4)

: in a wholesale manner

wholesale

verb

wholesaled; wholesaling

Definition of wholesale (Entry 4 of 4)

transitive verb

: to sell (something) in quantity usually for resale

intransitive verb

: to sell in quantity usually for resale

Other Words from wholesale More Example Sentences Learn More about wholesale

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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

No one wants a wholesale rounding up of possible suspects, but everyone wants their mugger or thief quickly identified. — Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, "Letter: Only wide usage of face scans will perfect their use," 26 June 2019 Amazon buys products wholesale and sells them directly to consumers like a typical retailer. — Matt Day, Fortune, "Amazon U.S. Online Market Share Estimate Cut to 37.7% From 47%," 13 June 2019 Robusta has sold wholesale for an average of 87 cents a pound this year, compared with $1.39 for Colombian arabica. — Julie Wernau, WSJ, "Why Does Your Coffee Taste Like Tires? A Battle Brews Between Beans," 16 Dec. 2018 That probably comes down to the game's original low-poly models, weird shadows, and super-blurry textures returning wholesale. — Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, "Shenmue I & II impressions: A gaming history lesson, but it feels like school," 20 Aug. 2018 While legal threats can have a chilling effect on individual ROM sites, stopping the illicit distribution of classic gaming ROMs wholesale is likely an unwinnable game of Internet Whac-A-Mole. — Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, "Lawsuit threat shuts down ROM downloads on major emulation site," 9 Aug. 2018 Founded in 2002, True Religion also sells its apparel wholesale through department stores such as Nordstrom. — Lillian Rizzo, WSJ, "True Religion Interim CEO Sees Future in More Stores, Global Expansion," 6 Nov. 2018 Chateau Reina is a startling sight, as if a medieval Tuscan castle had been moved, wholesale, to the Chinese countryside. — Mark Ellwood, Condé Nast Traveler, "Why China Should Be Your Next Wine Destination," 11 Sep. 2018 Even as the administration haltingly pursued treason charges against Lee and the others, the president was proclaiming amnesty wholesale for all but the topmost Confederates. — Fergus M. Bordewich, WSJ, "‘The Lost Indictment of Robert E. Lee’ Review: The Cost of Conciliation," 12 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Commercial fishers, who harvest fish to sell wholesale or to stock their own fish markets, are allowed to catch only one type of game fish, perch, from Saginaw Bay. — Emma Keith, Detroit Free Press, "Big changes could be coming to Michigan walleye, trout, perch fishing," 6 July 2019 Ruby coverture this year hit the US market for wholesale, not to consumers, but several companies currently are offering confections. — Ann Trieger Kurland, BostonGlobe.com, "The future of chocolate is pink," 24 June 2019 In the spring, Càphê Roasters started selling wholesale to restaurants in the city; their beans will hit local markets and co-ops later this summer. — Eleanore Park, WSJ, "Vietnamese Coffee: So Hot Right Now," 20 June 2019 In effect the policy creates a knob, which can be twiddled between a redistribution of capital and control, all the way to handing the means of production to workers wholesale (as was Mr Meidner’s original intention, until ABBA intervened). — The Economist, "The winner (no longer) takes it all," 15 June 2019 Later, a Swiss immmigrant couple bought it and started to sell some of their products wholesale to other stores. — Melia Russell, SFChronicle.com, "Saag’s meatpacking workers to protest severance offer," 14 June 2019 If the Penguins make wholesale changes, Vrana would ease the loss of a player like Phil Kessel. — Dan Falkenheim, SI.com, "Restricted Free Agents Most Likely to Sign Elsewhere This Offseason," 19 June 2019 The wholesale changes are not a surprise, and is similar to what Ellis did in World Cup qualifying. — Nancy Armour, USA TODAY, "World Cup: Carli Lloyd returns to starting lineup, Americans make six other changes," 16 June 2019 Walmart, Amazon’s main foreign competitor in India, is using its national network of wholesale stores to sell and deliver directly to country stores, restaurants and other businesses. — Eric Bellman, WSJ, "Amazon, to Win in Booming Rural India, Reinvents Itself," 31 Dec. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Hendricks founded and grew the ABC Supply wholesaling company (which sells roofing, siding, windows, and gutters) with her husband, Ken, who died in 2007. — Dylan Matthews, Vox, "This billionaire rebuilt her town — while funding a right-wing revolution in her state," 12 June 2019 According to Robertson, Garner gave him three bundles of heroin to wholesale in return for $105. — Chris Palmer, https://www.inquirer.com, "Witness: 4 executed in W. Philly basement were slain over $105 in drugs," 4 June 2019 Consistently negative offer prices to wholesale power markets from renewable energy create soft market prices that continue to drive out more resilient coal and nuclear generation. — WSJ, "The Renewables Policy Has Made the Grid Less Secure," 19 June 2018 While the vast majority of Ripley farm's revenue comes from wholesaling traditional milk, selling Guernsey A2 milk and cheese is a way to make extra income. — Michael Hill, USA TODAY, "Got indigestion? These cows could solve your milk problem," 1 June 2018 Selling these labels no doubt help beef up Stitch Fix’s profit margins because the brand is selling their own items instead of wholesaling pieces from other labels. — Cam Wolf, GQ, "Stitch Fix Thinks It Can Hack Your Style," 29 May 2018 This week, Vermont passed a first-in-the-nation law that would facilitate the state’s importation of prescription drugs wholesale from Canada. — Shefali Luthra, Washington Post, "Vermont Legislators Pass A Drug Importation Law. So What?," 22 May 2018 Compare that with a kilo of heroin, which wholesales for about $50,000 in Gulfport and generates a profit of just $200,000. — Fortune, "Deadly Chinese Fentanyl Is Creating a New Era of Drug Kingpins," 6 June 2018 Law enforcement, environmental NGOs, and aquarium trade importers, wholesales, and retailers have all talked of an effective, non-invasive, and easy-to-implement cyanide test as a sort of Holy Grail. — National Geographic, "‘Holy Grail' Test for Illegal Cyanide-Caught Aquarium Fish May Be Fatally Flawed," 5 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'wholesale.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.