wholesalen.adj.adv.
/ˈhəʊlseɪl/, U.S. /ˈhoʊlˌseɪl/ Frequently opposed to retail in literal senses.
A. n.
1. by (also at, in) wholesale (formerly also †by (also in) the whole sale).
a. With reference to the selling of goods: in large quantities and at low prices, typically in order to be sold on by retailers at a profit.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > a great quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > in large quantities
by (also at, in) wholesale1417
in great1447
by greatc1475
by the whole1592
by the yard1845
in block1870
in bulk1908
like peas1959
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > a great quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > on a large scale
by (also at, in) wholesale1417
on or upon a (large, small, liberal, etc.) scale1785
to do things on the big figure1831
in a big way1840
1417 in M. Sellers York Memorandum Bk. (1912) I. 183 To sell any girdeles by retaile or holesale.
1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue f. 41 Those men which sell by whole sale haue a quicker dispatch.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares 53 If seates of iustice were to be solde for money, wee haue them amongst vs that would buy them vp by the whole sale.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 95 Great Merchants disdaine to sell, otherwise then by whole sale.
1640 tr. J. A. Comenius Janua Linguarum Reserata (new ed.) xlv. §491 Pety chapmen buy up commodities of those that sell by wholesale, and sell them off dearer by retaile, and parcell them out.
1674 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Glasgow (1905) III. 174 The said magistratis and counsell..heirby gives him libertie to sell the same in haill saill to any of the burgessis of this burgh.
1717 Daily Courant 15 Feb. 1/2 The Home-brew'd Ale in the Cellar is to be sold by wholesale.
1732 Norwich Mercury 19 Feb. 3/2 William Steele..selleth the following Goods either by Wholesale or Retail.
1824 R. Southey Sir Thomas More (1829) I. 135 Purchasing articles for the community in wholesale.
1897 Appletons' Pop. Sci. Monthly Sept. 589 There follows an extensive list of maximum prices..from raw materials by wholesale to finished products by retail.
1917 Refrigerating World May 37/1 The Yuma Ice Company..will sell ice at wholesale for from $4.00 to $6.00 per ton.
1954 R. J. Hammond Food & Agric. in Brit., 1939–45 v. 90 Some 80 percent of the larger producers selling by wholesale.
2005 Athens (Georgia) Banner-Herald (Nexis) 16 Oct. Epstein began baking and making pet treats, which she sold by wholesale or at festivals.
b. figurative. On a large scale; in large quantity or number; profusely, extensively; indiscriminately. Now rare.
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the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb]
heap-mealc897
by greata1513
in gross1538
by wholesale1592
full tide1709
1592 T. Nashe Strange Newes sig. C4 All which hee reckons vp to make the world beleeue he hath read much but..he hath stole them by the wholesale out of some Booksellers Catalogue, or a table of Tractats.
1601 W. Cornwallis Ess. II. xxix. sig. Q7 We whose narrow roomes are not able to traffick with vertue by the whole-sale but by retayle.
1671 I. Barrow Duty & Reward of Bounty 204 St. Cyprian, who was liberal by whole-sale, bestowing all at once, a fair Estate, on God and the poor.
1741 I. Watts Improvem. Mind i. v. 87 They despise a valuable Book, and..throw Contempt upon it by wholesale.
1799 Anti-Jacobin Rev. & Mag. July 366 Ye robb'd in wholesale for your tutor's dame.
1837 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 42 112 The wild Bashkirs..slaughtered them by wholesale.
1871 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest IV. xx. 503 The Norman version makes him overthrow Welsh Kings by wholesale.
1908 S. Atlantic Q. July 285 All at once the city realizes that it has grown up without parks, and a movement is set on foot to secure them by wholesale.
1949 J. Frank Courts on Trial (1950) vii. 102 Courthouse justice is..done at retail, not at wholesale.
2. The action or business of selling by wholesale; extensive or indiscriminate distribution (in early use esp. in figurative contexts). Also: an instance of this; a transaction undertaken on a large scale or involving large quantity or number.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > [noun] > in large quantities
wholesale1587
wholesaling1823
mass distribution1925
1587 W. Lightfoot Complaint Eng. sig. Gv His market-making and whole sale of spirituall promotions to rawe and bankerout chapmen.
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. 166 Take them out of their tracke, put them from their whole-sale, and turne them to retayle... I will not giue a button for the best of them.
1667 R. Allestree Causes Decay Christian Piety i. 9 To which his ταυτα παντα σοι δωσω all this will I give (could he make such a whole-sale) can bear no proportion.
1788 E. Picken Poems & Epist. 57 Merchants shops, For halesale or retailin'.
1838 R. M. Bacon Mem. 3rd Baron Suffield 368 We are all Reformers now of some sort, from the bit by bit to the wholesale of ballot and universal suffrage.
1898 New Eng. Florist 12 May 127/2 If you grow for wholesale the best thing to do is to confine yourself to as few varieties as possible.
1917 M. Van Kleeck Seasonal Industry iv. 92 If you work in wholesale in the off-retail season, you have to work in a different place each season.
1973 W. G. Davis Social Relations in Philippine Market iii. 93 Rural products which are bulked for wholesale.
2001 New Yorker 23 Apr. 124/1 The bid-offer spread is like the difference between wholesale and retail.
2008 R. J. Pierce in P. C. Carstensen & S. B. Farmer Competition Policy & Merger Anal. in Deregulated & Newly Competitive Industries ii. 22 FERC says that it will withdraw the firm's authority to make wholesales at unregulated prices.
3. A wholesale dealer or business; = wholesaler n. at Derivatives. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > [noun] > wholesaler
wholesaler1800
wholesale1845
1845 D. W. Jerrold in Punch 23 Aug. 85/1 What! The retired wholesales never visit the retired retails at Clapham?
1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 19 May 6/1 There is said to be a suburb where the retired wholesales will not visit the retired retails.
1928 Daily Express 29 May 7/4 The ability of the wholesales to adopt methods of mass production..must be lessened.
1962 Times of India 24 Nov. 9/7 The wholesales will declare their prices in their shops and through advertisements.
2009 J. Curl For All People viii. 156 Between 1917 and 1918, regional cooperative wholesales were being organized in various parts of the country.
B. adj.
1.
a. Of a person, business, etc.: engaged in selling by wholesale.In quot. 1607 as part of an extended metaphor.
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society > trade and finance > selling > [adjective] > in specific manner
retailing?1582
wholesale1607
cutting1851
direct1892
wholesaling1896
underselling1899
quick-turnover1951
outbound1989
1607 S. Rowlands Diogines Lanthorne sig. Cv Your Ordinaries and your common-Innes Are whole-sale ware-houses of common sinnes.
1643 in Archaeologia (1890) 52 135 A hosyer & whole saleman for narrow wares.
1724 D. Defoe Tour Great Brit. I. i. 124 It being frequent for the London Wholesale Men to carry back Orders from their Dealers.
1773 Life N. Frowde 5 Mr. John Neville, a Wholesale ironmonger.
1812 J. Sinclair Acct. Syst. Husbandry Scotl. ii. 22 The farmer at a distance from markets..may be compared..to a wholesale merchant.
1876 F. S. Williams Midland Railway 637 Drugs from the wholesale houses for country druggists.
1928 N. Shepherd Quarry Wood xiii. 160 He..clerked throughout the week in a wholesale paper store.
1962 Life 12 Oct. 129 A wholesale hardware man.
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 26 June a22/4 The commission issued what officials called its first ‘death penalty’ order against a wholesale trader.
b. Of or relating to selling by wholesale; (of goods or a commodity) sold by wholesale.
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society > trade and finance > selling > [adjective] > belonging to or characteristic of type of selling
retail1601
shopkeeping1603
wholesale1640
shoppish1815
shoppy1825
soft sell1954
1640 R. Brome Antipodes i. i. sig. Bv He had not money left to buy his dinner, Upon that whole-sale day.
1647 City-dames Petition 6 Are not these goodly chapmen to deal in whole-sale Commodities?
1724 D. Defoe Tour Great Brit. I. i. 130 When the great Hurry of Wholesale Business begins to be over.
1785 Daily Universal Reg. 1 Jan. 3/2 The following articles, in Silver, at the Old established Wholesale Prices.
1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) iv. 25 Pickles..in great wholesale jars.
1867 J. Laing Theory of Business ii. 15 The retail price of ‘13’, we take to mean that shopkeepers received this amount of money for their stocks; and the wholesale price of ‘11’, shows that they pay to warehousemen ‘2’ less than they received.
1896 L. L. Price Money vi. 174 Greater friction prevails in the retail than in the wholesale market.
1918 Printers' Ink 9 May 125/2 The self appointed salesmen of the wholesale factory's output.
1956 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 28 Aug. 13/2 Foreign value is the price at which goods are sold in wholesale quantities in the markets of the country of origin.
2001 Wall St. Jrnl. 17 Sept. r8/5 The main marketplaces for wholesale electricity are state-operated, centralized pools.
2. figurative. Having an extensive application; unlimited or indiscriminate in range; done largely, profusely, or in great quantities. Also: thoroughgoing, out-and-out.
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the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > extensive or on a large scale
largea1400
ample1437
farc1475
diffused?1570
spacious1589
extensive1605
wholesale1642
diffuse1644
extense1644
voluminousa1652
amplivagant1656
extentive1658
numerousa1661
extended1700
amplivagous1731
far-reaching1824
Homeric1841
large-scale1856
wholescale1910
wide-scale1925
big-scale1930
macroscopic1931
broadscale1958
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > condition or state of being inclusive > [adjective] > inclusive or comprehensive > wholesale
wholesale1642
sweeping1771
1642 T. Fuller Holy State ii. xvii. 116 But how long shall I be retailing out rules to this Merchant?..take our Saviours whole-sale rule, Whatsoever ye would have men do unto you, do you unto them.
1664 S. Butler Hudibras: Second Pt. ii. iii. 189 Those wholesale Criticks, that..cry down all Philosophy.
a1722 J. Toland Coll. Several Pieces (1726) II. 230 But let no body imagine that we Free-thinkers should be less zealous or courageous, than the most wholesale believer..against the return of Popery.
1789 Monthly Rev. May 443 We are willing to hope, there are a sufficient number of noble exceptions, to rescue the [female] sex from the wholesale severity of the censure.
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Leila i. v. 43 The Moors had treated this unhappy people with a wholesale and relentless barbarity.
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes I. iii. 129 I am by no means a wholesale admirer of our legal solemnities.
1843 C. Scudamore Med. Visit Gräfenberg 27 It is a sort of wholesale theory, and equally serves for all persons, and for every known disorder.
1863 H. Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. i. vii. 73 A wholesale creation of peers for the purpose of obtaining a majority.
1880 E. Lynn Linton Rebel of Family xxii ‘Would you go to the colonies with the man you loved?’.. ‘I would go into the desert!’ she answered in her passionate wholesale way.
1963 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 16 Dec. 19/1 A wholesale closing of non-essential military bases.
1990 Your Amiga Mar. 21/1 Your assault on the enemy forces begins with a gentle stroll and ends with whole-sale slaughter.
C. adv. See by (also at, in) wholesale at sense A. 1.
1. By wholesale; from a wholesaler, or at a wholesale price.
ΚΠ
1696 W. Hunt Demonstr. Astrol. Pref. p. vii These Medicines..are prepared and sold, both Wholesale and Retail, by Hen. Martin of St. Ives in Huntingtonshire.
1728 Stamford Mercury 25 Apr. 136/1 There are a Parcel of good Oporto Wines neat as they came over, to be sold Wholesale or Retail, at the Cellar of Mrs. Smyth in Peterborough.
1785 Independent Jrnl. (N.Y.) 9 Nov. (advt.) R. Green... Prepares and sells, whole sale and Retail, the following Articles... Fine Prussian Blue, Fine Purple Lake, [etc.].
1866 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 691/1 These pegged goods [sc. shoes] are disposed of wholesale in boxes.
1883 Law Times Rep. 9 Feb. 727/1 Inviting the public to come and buy, both wholesale and retail.
1903 Daily Chron. 23 Nov. 6/6 A large consignment of French violets has reached London... They can be had at as low a price as 2s. per pad of four dozen bunches wholesale.
1960 Rotarian May 21/2 The guards..assumed that the one or two cartons the workers carried out periodically had been purchased wholesale.
2012 N.Y. Mag. 23 Apr. 34/1 They were expensive—$1.85 wholesale per jar, compared with others costing about 60 cents each.
2. figurative. On a large scale; in large quantity or number; profusely, extensively; indiscriminately.In quot. 1762 as part of an extended metaphor.
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the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > abundance > [adverb]
enoughOE
roomOE
largely?c1225
rifec1225
foison13..
rivedlyc1300
plenteously1340
plentily1340
fulsomelya1375
abundantlya1382
plenteousc1390
aboundinglyc1400
plentifullyc1400
copiously1447
abundanta1450
amply1454
substantiously1507
fatly?1521
largea1522
plentiful1563
heartily?1577
locupletely1599
redundantly1615
mainly1618
showeringly1621
rifely1648
profusively1650
galore1675
prolifically1735
wholesale1762
copious1791
aplenty1830
plenty1842
swimming1887
1762 T. Flloyd tr. C.-L. de S. de Montesquieu Persian Lett. II. cxxii. 66 Weak and feeble they die by retail,..while others are carried away wholesale [earlier edd. by wholesale; Fr. en gros] by frequent popular distempers.
1797 Monthly Mirror Dec. 367 Characters and passages taken wholesale from Terence.
1828 London Med. Gaz. 2 Aug. 281/1 We must not be so dazzled by these [views] as to apply them wholesale to disease.
1869 W. E. Gladstone Juventus Mundi iii. 104 Homer never allows distinguished Greeks to fall wholesale by the Trojan sword.
1919 Good Housek. Dec. 157/1 No paid teacher of a score of children can perform this office of guide, counselor, and friend..and even parents..may find that it can not be done wholesale.
1944 R.A.F. Jrnl. Aug. 279 One aircraft gets hit and disintegrates wholesale in the sky.
1955 Times 18 Aug. 9/2 Between 1934 and the outbreak of the war the device was copied wholesale.
2006 C. P. Lipo et al. Mapping our Ancestors 111 The ad hoc classes used by culture historians were drawn from Western culture... The processualists simply borrowed them wholesale.
Compounds
wholesale bank n. a bank that deals primarily with high-value transactions; a bank specializing in the provision of loans and financing to other financial institutions (such as merchant banks) and large corporations.
ΚΠ
1829 Raleigh Reg. & N.-Carolina Gaz. 27 Feb. We are to set up a wholesale Bank, the capital of which can only be ascertained by algebraic solution.
1901 Bankers Mag. Dec. 1011 As there are wholesale merchants, so there are wholesale banks which handle financial operations in bulk.
1955 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 69 516 Branch banking is the obvious answer for wholesale banks desiring to become more deeply involved in retail banking.
2008 L. W. Tuller Finance for Non-financial Managers (ed. 2) ii. vi. 100 Wholesale banks..specialize in serving as banks for other banks. Although they also get involved in retail banking and investment transactions, they act primarily as wholesalers, borrowing and lending funds from other banks.
wholesale banking n. the business of a wholesale bank.
ΚΠ
1833 Times 12 June 3/1 (advt.) The advertiser..presumes that his character and qualifications will recommend him to any wholesale banking or mercantile house of respectability.
1912 Wall St. Jrnl. 25 Dec. 7/2 The mechanism and operation of the retail bond house is shown in comparison to the wholesale banking houses which deal more with institutions.
1955 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 69 516 The increasing importance of the consumer loan is an integral part of a broader phenomenon—the growing importance of retail banking and the relative decline of wholesale banking.
2004 M. J. Buckle & J. L. Thompson UK Financial Syst. (ed. 4) iii. 56 In contrast to wholesale banking, where transactions are typically small in volume but large in value and customers are mainly medium/large companies and large organisations.
Derivatives
ˈwholesalely adv. in a wholesale manner; extensively, widely; indiscriminately.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > to a great extent, largely, or extensively
substantiallya1425
ample1481
amply1481
greatly1579
supernaculum1599
spaciously1608
extensively1736
largely1785
wholesalely1843
fatly1866
majorly1929
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > condition or state of being inclusive > [adverb] > comprehensively > in wholesale manner
sweepingly1822
wholesalely1843
1843 Satirist 22 Oct. 350/1 A pas de trois by Mademoiselle Galby and two other damsels, was encored in detail, and wholesalely applauded.
1915 Lumber World Rev. 10 June 25/1 The trust, the monopoly, the cruel, indiscriminate working of women and children, are being wholesalely condemned.
2011 G. Schwartz Impulse Econ. iii. 35 There are different environmental factors globally and mobile models cannot be wholesalely imported.
ˈwholesaler n. a person who sells goods by wholesale; a wholesale shop or business.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > [noun] > wholesaler
wholesaler1800
wholesale1845
1800 Universal Commerc. Directory of Europe 26/1 in Commerc. & Agric. Mag. Mar. Herzog, (A.) wholesaler in muslins and manufacturer of chintz and calico.
1888 E. Bellamy Looking Backward x. 146 The manufacturer sold to the wholesaler.
1945 Laredo (Texas) Times 18 Sept. 3/2 These wholesalers handle 60 per cent of the meat in city and suburban areas.
2007 J. E. Lloyd Hot Summer Nights iv. 88 Trish had surfed the Net and found a few wholesalers who could help her stock the store.
ˈwholesaleness n. rare wholesale quality; comprehensiveness; indiscriminateness.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > condition or state of being inclusive > [noun] > comprehensiveness > wholesaleness
sweepingness1831
wholesaleness1866
1866 in Weekly Umpire (Rockport, Indiana) 7 June 1/4 It [sc. the killing of the Deering family] has all the breadth, the sanguinary wholesaleness, of one of those memorable contests.
1987 Philosophy 62 277 This wholesaleness was surely the core both of Moore's error and of his appeal.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
wholesalev.
/ˈhəʊlseɪl/, U.S. /ˈhoʊlˌseɪl/ 1. transitive and intransitive. To sell (goods) by wholesale.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > sell [verb (transitive)] > sell in specific manner
retail1365
tap1478
retaliate1640
outsella1687
wholesale1792
to sell short1852
hustle1887
brand1909
oversell1928
package1946
soft-sell1958
test-market1958
mass-market1959
sales-drive1962
bundle1969
cross-sell1972
up-market1972
onsell1979
society > trade and finance > selling > sell [verb (intransitive)] > sell in specific manner
retail?1523
to sell in bulk1678
wholesale1871
best-sell1937
overstock1945
switch-sell1965
rack-job1967
cold-call1972
cross-sell1972
1792 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1938) VI. 959 The Witty Wine Merchant. Ay he will Wholesale you New Wine.
1837 C. Dickens in Bentley's Misc. Oct. 413 We have been prevailed upon to allow this number of our Miscellany to be retailed to the public, or wholesaled to the trade, without any advance upon our usual price.
1871 Illustr. Ann. Reg. Rural Affairs 331 (advt.) We also manufacture other farm and industrial implements, and are prepared to wholesale or retail on the most favourable terms.
1921 Boot & Shoe Recorder 15 Oct. 127/1 The leading styles wholesaled through the southern territory of the W. J. Bennett Company.
1962 R. B. Fuller Epic Poem on Industrialization 134 ‘Science News Service’ An industrial syndicate Wholesaling to publishers Reported thirty thousand technical innovations.
1991 Bookseller 22 Nov. 1511/1 There are a lot of kids' books which we make say 50 per cent on, but I am also wholesaling them so it is not a true retail margin.
2. intransitive. Of goods: to be sold by wholesale (at or for a specified price).
ΚΠ
1810 Rhode Island Amer. 21 Aug. 4/4 (advt.) Shoes, Retailing at wholesale prices, and wholesaling at cost.
1885 Harper's Mag. Jan. 289/1 English ladies' shoes, wholesaling at $1.50 per pair.
1913 Country Life in Amer. Sept. 63/2 The milk..is wholesaled for five cents a quart at the farm to a local dealer.
1976 Daily Tel. 10 Nov. 7/2 A year ago, Dutch potatoes were wholesaling at £2.50 to £2.70 for 25 kilos.
2011 P. Carminati Pocket Posh Wine 40 A bottle of wine wholesaling for $20 will sell in a store for $30 and on a restaurant's wine list for $60.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.adj.adv.1417
v.1792