: 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
Michael Useem, Fortune Asia, 24 Oct. 2024
And this will happen at the same time as a wholesale changing of the guard among the IT workforce, as experienced veterans in senior technical roles exit and are replaced by those earlier in their careers.
—Mike Bushong, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
William Dunkelberg, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2024
The qui tam rules are part of the False Claims Act, a Civil War-era law that was enacted in response to reports of wholesale plundering by suppliers of military goods and ammo to the War Department.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2024
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
Jean E. Palmieri, WWD, 11 Oct. 2024
What was more concerning for Ford, though, was that a Beetle wholesaled for $465 less than the Ford Fairlane and $280 less than the Falcon.
—Larry Printz, Ars Technica, 26 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for wholesale 
Noun
Rather than embracing Western tenets wholesale, firms have selectively borrowed from abroad while keeping features of their own doctrine in areas ranging from management transparency and director independence to stakeholder diversity and successor selection.
—Michael Useem, Fortune Asia, 24 Oct. 2024
And this will happen at the same time as a wholesale changing of the guard among the IT workforce, as experienced veterans in senior technical roles exit and are replaced by those earlier in their careers.
—Mike Bushong, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
Adjective
Owners in the wholesale trades were the most pessimistic, likely concerned about the dock strikes which are now settled.
—William Dunkelberg, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2024
The qui tam rules are part of the False Claims Act, a Civil War-era law that was enacted in response to reports of wholesale plundering by suppliers of military goods and ammo to the War Department.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2024
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
Today, women’s accounts for around 15 percent of sales but is only sold through the Billy Reid channels, and is not wholesaled.
—Jean E. Palmieri, WWD, 11 Oct. 2024
What was more concerning for Ford, though, was that a Beetle wholesaled for $465 less than the Ford Fairlane and $280 less than the Falcon.
—Larry Printz, Ars Technica, 26 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for wholesale
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wholesale.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near wholesale
Cite this Entry
“Wholesale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wholesale. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.
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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