Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The sale of goods in large quantities, as for resale by a retailer.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or engaged in the sale of goods in large quantities for resale.
  • adjective Made or accomplished extensively and indiscriminately; blanket.
  • adverb In large bulk or quantity.
  • adverb Extensively; indiscriminately.
  • intransitive verb To sell in large quantities for resale.
  • intransitive verb To engage in wholesale selling.
  • intransitive verb To be sold wholesale.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Sale of goods by the piece or in large quantity, as distinguished from retail.
  • noun in the mass; in the gross; in great quantities; hence, without due discrimination or distinction.
  • Buying and selling by the piece or in large quantity: as, a wholesale dealer.
  • Pertaining to the trade by the piece or quantity: as, the wholesale price.
  • Figuratively, in great quantities; extensive and indiscriminate: as, wholesale slaughter.
  • To sell by wholesale or in large quantities.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Sale of goods by the piece or large quantity, as distinguished from retail.
  • noun in the mass; in large quantities; without distinction or discrimination.
  • adjective Pertaining to, or engaged in, trade by the piece or large quantity; selling to retailers or jobbers rather than to consumers.
  • adjective Extensive and indiscriminate.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The sale of products, often in large quantities, to retailers or other merchants.
  • adjective Of or relating to sale in large quantities, for resale.
  • adjective Extensive, indiscriminate, all-encompassing; blanket.
  • adverb In bulk or large quantity.
  • adverb Indiscriminately.
  • verb To sell at wholesale.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb on a large scale without careful discrimination
  • adjective ignoring distinctions
  • noun the selling of goods to merchants; usually in large quantities for resale to consumers
  • verb sell in large quantities
  • adverb at a wholesale price

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The committee's report on its meeting last month said: "While UK banks had met most of their term wholesale funding targets for 2011 earlier in the year, progress in building funding resilience had been set back in recent months."

    Evening Standard - Home Nick Goodway 2011

  • None of that justifies discarding the term wholesale.

    The Problem With 'Evil' Raymond Zhong 2011

  • Cheap Electronics Wholesale Direct from China, china wholesale is a Hong Kong based company, discount electronicsour business office locate in Shenzhen of China, the global manufacturer and sourcing center of electronic products.

    Key indicators Matthew Guerrieri 2007

  • Cheap Electronics Wholesale Direct from China, china wholesale is a Hong Kong based company, discount electronicsour business office locate in Shenzhen of China, the global manufacturer and sourcing center of electronic products.

    Shadow play Matthew Guerrieri 2007

  • JEGLEY: Well, he was exercising the clemency power at what I call a wholesale right.

    CNN Transcript Dec 1, 2009 2009

  • Cheap Electronics Wholesale Direct from China, china wholesale is a Hong Kong based company, discount electronicsour business office locate in Shenzhen of China, the global manufacturer and sourcing center of electronic products.

    Good? Bad? Ugly? Matthew Guerrieri 2007

  • ROESGEN: Yes, they are going to do those things, too, but I think the main thing that everyone is looking at right now is this wholesale -- what they call a wholesale layoff, a turnaround.

    CNN Transcript Jan 24, 2008 2008

  • Because clearly anyone who works in these markets ... will tell you that lending between banks and other financial groups in the short term wholesale markets is anything but normal, she said.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • Mr. Galbraith has said that he believes that he was forced out because he was feuding with his boss, the Norwegian Kai Eide, the top United Nations official in Kabul, over how to respond to what he termed wholesale fraud in the Afghan presidential election.

    NYT > Global Home 2009

  • Mr. Galbraith has said that he believes that he was forced out because he was feuding with his boss, the Norwegian Kai Eide, the top United Nations official in Kabul, over how to respond to what he termed wholesale fraud in the Afghan presidential election.

    NYT > Home Page 2009

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