[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/wholesale.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / wholesale

[← W](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/W/)

# wholesale

«wholesale» in Mova's school dictionary: **Selling goods in large amounts to shops and businesses…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (wholesale, uncountable); adjective (wholesale); adverb (wholesale)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (money) Selling goods in large amounts to shops and businesses, who then sell them on to customers at a higher price. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wholesale/#m1)

2) (adjective, money) To do with such selling: "wholesale prices". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wholesale/#m2)

3) Done on a very large scale, often too much and without care: "wholesale destruction". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wholesale/#m3)

4) (adverb) In large amounts, or completely. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wholesale/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In money and business lessons, the chain goes: a factory makes goods, a wholesaler buys lots of them cheaply, a shop buys from the wholesaler, and you buy from the shop at the retail price. The difference between wholesale and retail prices is how shops make a profit. In the news, "wholesale" can also mean huge and sweeping, often bad: "wholesale changes", "wholesale destruction". Phrases: "buy wholesale", "wholesale price", "wholesale changes".

### examples

- The shop buys its sweets wholesale and sells them one by one. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wholesale/#x1)
- The wholesale price of a pen was 20p, and the shop sold it for 50p. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wholesale/#x2)
- Grandad runs a wholesale fruit business. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wholesale/#x3)
- The storm caused wholesale damage to the forest. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wholesale/#x4)
- The new head teacher made wholesale changes to the timetable. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wholesale/#x5)
- Buying wholesale is cheaper because you buy a lot at once. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wholesale/#x6)
- Then came the mother herself, in crinoline, Madame AUGUST, a wholesale dealer in fruit, proprietress of a large number of fish ponds and a land cultivator. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wholesale/#x7)

### note

Opposite: retail (selling to the public). A wholesaler is the business that sells wholesale. Maths: profit per item = retail price minus wholesale price; for example, bought at 20p and sold at 50p gives 30p profit per item. Wholesale prices are usually lower per item because you buy in bulk.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «wholesale» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wholesale/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.