retail

noun

1. 1

   The sale of goods directly to the consumer, encompassing the storefronts, mail-order, websites, etc., and the corporate mechanisms, branding, advertising, etc. that support them.

   She works in retail.

2. 2

   The sale of securities or other financial instruments to private investors, as opposed to large institutions.

   Mr. Musk reserved a double-digit percentage of the I.P.O. shares for “retail,” or ordinary, investors — as opposed to big institutions.

3. 3

   Retail price; full price; an abbreviated expression, meaning the full suggested price of a particular good or service, before any sale, discount, or other deal.

   I never pay retail for clothes.

adjective

1. 1

   Of or relating to the (actual or figurative) sale of goods or services directly to individuals.

   "This is a very retail approach for us," Czerw said. "But when you buy one out of every six home loans in the US, you are going to have a constant flow ..."

   The future for Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Conn., also looks very retail. Plans call for $156 million to expand the main terminal,

   But even with her level of celebrity, it would be very hard to win a race without engaging voters in a very retail way.

   When the New York Post branded Ron DeSantis “DeFuture” in 2022[…], it had not reckoned on the Florida governor being astonishingly awkward with the basics of retail politics: smiling, shaking hands, interacting with other people.

adverb

1. 1

   Direct to consumers, in retail quantities, or at retail prices.

   We've shut shown our reseller unit. We're only selling retail now.

verb

1. 1

   To sell at retail, or in small quantities directly to customers.

   a half part of this purveying is carried on within the city and is called retailing.

2. 2

   archaicTo sell secondhand, or in broken parts.

3. 3

   To repeat or circulate (news or rumours) to others.

   He retailed to them the curious interchange of phrases he had overheard on the journey from Aleppo.

   He became quite pale as he retailed these stories to Constance.

   The fantasies of blood libel that Bosnian Serbs retailed about Bosnian Muslims were the fantasies that Rhinelanders had centuries earlier retailed about the Jews they had murdered.

Forms

past tense

retailed

past participle

retailed

present participle

retailing

third person singular

retails