: 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
Sean Krofssik, Hartford Courant, 30 May 2025
Rather than trying to reverse the post-Brexit economic model wholesale, UK policymakers identified discrete areas where friction could be reduced without reopening the entire negotiation.
—Benjamin Laker, Forbes.com, 25 May 2025
Sean Lee, Forbes.com, 5 June 2025
Staudinger has built a brand that is on the lips of fashionistas everywhere and is growing every which way, adding categories like sport and expanding with brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce and through wholesale accounts.
—Evan Clark, Footwear News, 4 June 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, 21 May 2025
The company wholesales its collection to Neiman Marcus, Goop and specialty stores.
—Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 16 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wholesale
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Noun
Norton’s also was a big buyer of cider from Bishop’s, and Isnard said his farm will likely produce cider every other week instead of every week now because Norton’s sold 40% of Bishop’s total volume wholesale.
—Sean Krofssik, Hartford Courant, 30 May 2025
Rather than trying to reverse the post-Brexit economic model wholesale, UK policymakers identified discrete areas where friction could be reduced without reopening the entire negotiation.
—Benjamin Laker, Forbes.com, 25 May 2025
Adjective
In the last six months alone, the Bank for International Settlements expanded its cross-border wholesale CBDC pilot, Project mBridge, to include over 26 observing members.
—Sean Lee, Forbes.com, 5 June 2025
Staudinger has built a brand that is on the lips of fashionistas everywhere and is growing every which way, adding categories like sport and expanding with brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce and through wholesale accounts.
—Evan Clark, Footwear News, 4 June 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 also its collection at Nordstrom.com, Revolve, and Nuuly, and the company’s Wellness collection is sold at Ulta and Bluemercury.
—Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 21 May 2025
The company wholesales its collection to Neiman Marcus, Goop and specialty stores.
—Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 16 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 10 Jun. 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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