grocery

noun

gro·cery ˈgrōs-rē

ˈgrō-sə-;

ˈgrōsh-rē

plural groceries

groceries plural : the food and supplies sold by a grocer

—usually singular in British usage

: a grocer's store

Examples of grocery in a Sentence

She stopped to pick up some groceries for supper.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The two biggest category changes year-over-year were groceries, which jumped nearly 13% to $21.5 billion, and cosmetics, which saw a 12.2% rise to $7.7 billion. —

Michele Luhn, CNBC, 8 Jan. 2025 For example, major grocery chains often increase the availability of private-label products when commodity costs rise for staples like pasta, bread or dairy. —

Mikko Karkkainen, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025 Read on to get a shortlist (that can double as a grocery shopping list) of winter fruits in season from November to March. —

Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 6 Jan. 2025 The best policies The real economic pain of inflation comes when wages and benefits don’t respond to the changing value of the dollar the way that our groceries, rent and child care costs have. —

Aine Seitz McCarthy, The Mercury News, 3 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for grocery

Word History

Etymology

Middle English grocerye, grosery "merchandise sold by wholesalers, the Grocers' Company of London," borrowed from Anglo-French grocerie, groserie, from groser "wholesale dealer in preserved foods, spices, wine, etc." + -ie -y entry 2 — more at grocer

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of grocery was in the 15th century

See more words from the same century