grocer

noun

gro·​cer ˈgrō-sər  -shər 

: a dealer in staple foodstuffs, meats, produce, and dairy products and usually household supplies

Examples of grocer in a Sentence

Ask your local grocer if he sells organic fruits and vegetables.

Recent Examples on the Web

Pure Quill is his latest take on dawn-to-dusk dining, a modern Southern luncheonette and grocer housed in a circa-1914 brick building. —Bon Appétit Staff & Contributors, Bon Appetit Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025

Even with other stores relatively close, those stores are not full-service grocers. —Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 15 Aug. 2025

Sysco trucks once sped through town, but today in this agricultural region of southern Appalachia, Franklin County bison farmers, mushroom foragers from Huntsville, Alabama, and McMinnville salad green growers are the ones dropping off ingredients at restaurant back doors and local grocer Mooney’s. —Anne Byrn, Southern Living, 12 Aug. 2025

In December 2023, mall owner Hull Property Group sued Kroger, seeking a court order to stop the grocer’s plans to bulldoze the Sears facilities and proceed with its contested store plan. —Alexander Coolidge, The Enquirer, 10 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English grocer, grosser "wholesale dealer in preserved foods, spices, wine, etc.," borrowed from Anglo-French groser, grosser, grossour (Middle French grossier), from gros "the greater part, the bulk," en gros "wholesale, in bulk" (derivative of gros, adjective, "large, great, coarse") + -er, -our -er entry 2 — more at gross entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for grocer

• closer
• grosser
• greengrocer

Kids Definition

grocer

noun

gro·​cer ˈgrō-sər 

: a dealer in food and household supplies