retailn.1adj.adv.
/ˈriːteɪl/, U.S. /ˈriˌteɪl/ A. n.1† 2. The action of relating something in detail; a detailed account or retelling. Obsolete.
1.
a. The action or business of selling goods in relatively small quantities for use or consumption rather than for resale. Frequently opposed to wholesale n. Also figurative.
(a) Preceded by by (also at, in, †to), forming adverbial phrases.
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1384 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 24 (MED) Al strang[e] vitaillers sholden with thair vitailles frelich kome to the Cite, to selle thair vitailles as wel be retaile as in other wyse.
1413 in Sections Assembly Bk. A Shrewsbury Guild Hall 87 (MED) Any persone that selleth a tunne wyne agret or by retayll..that he paye for every tune ij d. to the stewardes.
1433 Petition in Rotuli Parl. (1767–77) IV. 478/2 Hit is assented..that no Baillyff..bye, ne selle, no maner vitaill to retaile.
1467 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 397 (MED) That no persone..sille no ffysshe watrd at retayle but he be contrubitory wt the ffisshemongers crafte.
1503–4 Act 19 Hen. VII c. 32 §10 Every persone..that..usith to by and sell any goodis or catalles at retayle.
1598 R. Barckley Disc. Felicitie of Man iv. 308 Without scruple they sell that iustice by retaile that was bought in grosse.
1615 R. Brathwait Strappado 218 Both's to be bought: no difference in the sale; The one in grosse, the other in Retaile.
1631 R. Byfield Doctr. Sabbath Vindicated 216 You set forth slanderous reports of Master Byfield, which you tooke in by retayle.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 106. §2 I..asked him, Whether he would break Bulk, and sell his Goods by Retail?
1792 Times 15 Mar. 2/1 The Resolution..was, that no person should sell Wines of any kind by retail, to be drank in his own house, unless he took out a License for selling Ale and Beer.
1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. I. i. ii. §6. 49 Even when things are destined to be at last sold by retail, convenience soon creates a class of wholesale dealers.
1886 F. Wayland & A. L. Chapin Elem. Pol. Econ. x. 121 It is ordinarily more economical to purchase supplies..at retail, than at wholesale, though the prices are higher.
1932 Pop. Mech. Apr. 5 (advt.) Make money like Mrs. Nelson, Ill. who sold 90 dozen Brown Bobbys at retail in one week.
1995 S. Lojkine in M. Richardson & P. Williams Law & Market 44 The evidence cited..was almost entirely drawn from the management reports of the three main companies selling biscuits by retail in Australia.
(b) In other constructions, and without construction.
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society > trade and finance > selling > [noun] > selling in small quantities
retailing1365
retail1449
1449–50 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Nov. 1449 §59. m. 19 That all such lettres patentes graunted to eny persone or persons, holdyng ostrie, bruhouse, or house of retaille of vitails, be voide.
1463–4 in R. R. Sharpe Cal. Let.-bks. London (1912) L. 46 (MED) If..eny grete Shippes..may not come to any of the saide Keys..That thanne the marchaunt..that dischargith by lighter bote..shalbe demeaned in puttyng to sale by the wey of Retaill therof in their lighters.
1553 T. Gresham in J. W. Burgon Life & Times Sir T. Gresham (1839) I. 464 That the retayller shall occupy onely his retayle, and the merchaunt adventorer his feat.
1567 T. Drant tr. Horace Pistles in tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie sig. Dvv Goe make your marchandize God sende you good retayle.
1605 T. Tymme tr. J. Du Chesne Pract. Chymicall & Hermeticall Physicke iii. 190 To make retale of candels, lanternes, and all mercerie-wares.
1681 J. Oldham Satyrs upon Jesuits 16 He scorn'd Retail I'th' Trade of Death: whole Myriads died by th' great.
1736 Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 631/1 By prohibiting the Retaile of Punch, some small Addition may be made to our Consumption of Wines.
1786 R. Cumberland Observer III. lxxix. 182 My parents kept a shop for the retail of gin, and old rags.
1809 N. Pinkney Trav. South of France 80 There was no appearance of business, not even of a brisk retail, or of a lively thoroughfare.
1888 S. Dowell Hist. Taxation in Eng. (ed. 2) II. ii. i. 44 The duties on the retail of drinks made from tea, coffee, and chocolate.
1909 P. Collier Eng. & English iii. 89 In the year 1907 there were in Singapore alone 97 licensed shops for the retail of chandu, which is opium prepared for smoking.
1991 Business Traveller Jan. 37/3 By..developing a corporate policy on retail, the Port Authority is trying to lower prices being charged at the airports.
2005 J. H. Coughlin & A. R. Thomas Rise Women Entrepreneurs iv. 62 She headed for New York and built a successful career in retail, eventually becoming a department store manager.
b. A retailer; a business that sells by retailing.
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society > trade and finance > selling > seller > [noun] > retailer
tapster1402
retailour1445
tapper1478
wisseler1481
retailer1489
retail1838
1838 Farmers' Reg. 6 703/2 Your committee..deem it due to justice and patriotism to reduce the license of the smaller class of retails.
1848 W. B. Jerrold Disgrace to Family vi. 41 To this day, in that quarter so peculiarly the property of retired traders, the wholesales no not mix with the retails.
1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 25 Nov. 2/2 The idea of the retails is to amend the Food and Drugs Act by making an invoice count as a warranty.
1945 L. R. Ward Ourselves, Inc. xiv. 152 Everywhere the retails exist with their many locals.
2007 P. G. Chengappa et al. in P. K. Joshi et al. Agric. Diversification & Smallholders S. Asia xiii. 394 The ratio of male to female employees in the retails is 1:5.
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the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > the quality of being specific > [noun] > quality of being specific or detailed > a detail or particular
circumstances?c1225
parcela1325
partya1393
specialc1405
particular?a1425
partc1425
specialityc1443
specialty1449
especialityc1460
particularity1528
respect1533
severals1606
especial1633
particularment1642
retail1644
instance1649
circumstantiality1854
1644 K. Digby Two Treat. i. vi. 40 Our worke is but to explicate and shew the particulars in retaile, of what men naturally speake in grosse.
1655 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa IV. ii. vi. 591 Unsuccessfull Sallyes, whose retail I decline telling you.
1677 A. Marvell Acct. Growth Popery 16 Should I enter into a particular retaile of all former and latter Transactions..there would be sufficient for a just Volume of History.
1706 T. Taylor in B. Kennett et al. tr. R. Rapin Whole Crit. Wks. I. 246 There might probably be other more engaging Prospects..that determin'd this Author in the Choice of his Subject..from such a Retail of mighty Circumstances.
1806 Monthly Rev. Sept. 42 The English reader expects..a calm and temperate report; and not a paltry retail of vehement incongruities.
B. adj. (chiefly attributive).† 3. Of secondary importance or value; petty, trivial. Obsolete.
1. Of, relating to, or engaged in retail. Frequently in retail market, retail output, retail trade. See also Compounds.retail facilities: see facility n. 6c.
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society > trade and finance > selling > [adjective] > belonging to or characteristic of type of selling
retail1601
shopkeeping1603
wholesale1640
shoppish1815
shoppy1825
soft sell1954
1601 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Worlde 93 They..haue betaken themselues to liue by retaile and mechanicall trades [It. guadagni vtili a i particolari].
1640 H. Mill Nights Search xxxviii. 190 It is undoubted Newes That Mariners to Venice bring rich fraught, And retaile Merchants in exchange have naught.
1689 in J. A. Picton City of Liverpool: Select. Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 297 To drive some small retail trade.
1716 M. Davies Crit. Hist. 78 in Athenæ Britannicæ III There may have been such Retaile-Coyn, set forth by some Retail-Dealers, in all Reigns perchance.
1785 Daily Universal Reg. 1 Jan. 3/4 R. Croft, Taylor..at his wholesale and retail warehouse..is now selling ladies' Italian Coats.
1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. I. iii. i. 520 The influence of those causes is ultimately felt in the retail markets.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. vii. 59 The poorer shops of small retail traders in commodities to eat and drink and keep folks warm.
1926 Times 6 May 3/3 Coal is not being moved by rail, but retail distribution was being carried on in London yesterday.
1962 Listener 13 Sept. 376/2 Every famous jazz composer or retail-chain owner.
1970 New Society 5 Mar. 383/3 Retail margins (the difference between the price paid by the shopkeeper and the price paid by the consumer) had previously been gradually rising.
2002 M. Sullivan & D. Adcock Retail Marketing v. 111 The number of retail outlets in a given trade area will have an effect on potential demand.
2. Piecemeal; parcelled out. Now rare.
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the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [adjective] > consisting or done in pieces
piecemeal1593
retail1664
1664 G. Etherege Comical Revenge ii. iii. 27 Give me a bigger glass, Boy..Hang your Retail Drinkers; have at thee, my brave Country-man.
1679 Established Test 41 What lingring and retail deaths would they think enough for such..Heretiques.
1827 T. C. Grattan High-ways & By-ways 3rd Ser. I. x. 174 He soon proved that his memory possessed more retail qualities than mine, which only had the power of wholesale recollection.
a1849 E. Elliott Poems (1853) 102 I drove no trade In petty retail havoc: No! I came, I saw, I conquer'd.
1961 J. E. Smith Reason & God v. 94 Explanation must become a piecemeal and retail affair focused on specific changes and specific outcomes.
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the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > of little importance or trivial
eathlyc890
lighteOE
littleOE
small?c1225
singlec1449
easy1474
triflous1509
naughty1526
slender1530
slight1548
shrimpish1549
slipper1567
truanta1572
toyous1581
trivious1583
mean1585
silly1587
nicea1594
puny?1594
puisne1598
pusill1599
whindling1601
sapless1602
non-significant1603
poor1603
unsignificant1603
flea-bite1605
perishing1605
lank1607
weightless1610
fonda1616
penny farthing1615
triviala1616
unweighty1621
transitory1637
twattling1651
inconsiderate1655
unserious1655
nugal1656
small drink1656
slighty1662
minute1668
paddling1679
snitling1682
retail1697
Lilliputian1726
vain1731
rattletrap1760
peppercornish1762
peppercorn1791
underling1804
venial1806
lightweight1809
floccinaucical1826
small-bore1833
minified1837
trantlum1838
piffling1848
tea-tabular1855
potty1860
whipping-snapping1861
tea-gardeny1862
quiddling1863
twaddling1863
fidgeting1865
penny ante1865
feather-weighted1870
jerkwater1877
midget1879
mimsy1880
shirttail1881
two-by-four1885
footle1894
skittery1905
footery1929
Mickey Mouse1931
chickenshit1934
minoritized1945
marginal1952
marginalized1961
tea-party1961
little league1962
marginalizing1977
minnowy1991
1697 S. Baston Dial. Courtier & Eng. Gentleman 12 It must ere long be Counted hard Measure, that for such petty Retail Robbery and Murther..a Man shou'd be hang'd like a Dog.
1723 Impartial Hist. Peter Alexowitz 381 He was earnestly press'd by his Generals to leave this Petty Retail War (as they called it) and advance to the Frontiers of Tartary.
1811 S. Smith Wks. (1859) I. 211/2 As much his superior in the retail qualities which small people arrogate to themselves, as he was in every commanding faculty to the rest of his fellow-creatures.
1883 Househ. Words 8 Sept. 375/1 We have the advantage of plenty of fussy interference of a petty and retail sort.
C. adv.
By retail; from a retailer, or at a retail price.
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society > trade and finance > selling > [adverb]
retail1784
1784 New Spectator No. 17. 3 What barbarous parents,..to oblige a person of my figure to deal out tea and sugar retail!
1830 tr. R. Caillié Trav. Central Afr. I. xviii. 457 They [sc. butchers] also thrust skewers through little pieces of meat, which they smoke-dry and sell retail.
1878 C. Reade Coming Man i. 9 The newspaper, when it has fed the mind, has still some value as matter, being as much paper as a man can buy retail for three farthings.
1918 C. W. Sutton & N. J. Lennes Brief Business Arithm. xix. 187 An article listed to sell retail at $5 was sold to the retail dealer at a discount of 25%.
1951 Billboard Mar. 10 62/3 (advt.) Never before offered retail at this price.
2005 N. Leslie That might be Useful xiii. 184 ‘I never buy retail,’ Donna offered immediately. ‘There's no need to. That's why retail stores are in trouble.’
Compounds
retail bank n. a bank offering retail banking services; cf. wholesale bank n. at wholesale n., adj., and adv. Compounds.
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1901 Bankers Mag. Dec. 1011 Like the retail stores, so are there retail banks caring for the needs of the individual.
1955 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 69 530 Retail banks make smaller business loans and consumer and mortgage loans.
2003 M. Slater in D. O. Faulkner & A. Campbell Oxf. Handbk. Strategy (2006) i. iii. 62 Several retail banks (e.g. Barclays, Natwest) made notable failures with their forays into investment banking.
retail banker n. a person engaged in retail banking; (also) a retail bank.
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1881 Jrnl. E. India Assoc. 13 88 The lumbering process of registration for every petty loan of a retail banker.
1919 A. S. Dewing Financial Policy of Corporations (1920) I. vi. 120 A transition form between the true insurance functions of syndicate underwriting and the ordinary selling function assumed by the retail banker.
1984 Times 7 Apr. 21/1 The [building] societies..want to be free to offer unsecured loans, the single key to their becoming retail bankers.
2007 Marketing Week (Nexis) 13 Dec. 15 [He] is an investment banker, not a retail banker. He made a mess of his sortie into retail banking at Abbey National.
retail banking n. the provision of banking services (such as the receipt of deposits and the administration of current accounts, loans, etc.) to consumers and small businesses; cf. commercial banking n. at commercial adj. and n. Additions.In quot. 1890: (perhaps) banking services designed to meet the specific needs of retailers.
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1890 W. Beale Light of Other Days II. xiv. 338 The house was bursting with ready cash. Not a very extraordinary circumstance, considering the large amount realized every week by the Lancaster Street firm, and,..that the day of that which may be called retail banking had hardly yet dawned.
1938 Bankers Mag. Sept. 230/2 The question of whether the bank desires to go into..the retail banking field, or prefers to remain in the wholesale banking business, in which case the banker prefers to finance dealers rather than purchasers of automobiles and other household appliances.
1955 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 69 516 Branch banking is the obvious answer for wholesale banks desiring to become more deeply involved in retail banking.
2007 Marketing 2 May 4/2 An investigation into the retail banking sector as it [sc. the Office of Fair Trading] decides whether banks are charging too much for unauthorised overdrafts.
retail park n. originally U.S. an out-of-town shopping development, usually containing a number of large chain stores.
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society > trade and finance > trading place > place where retail transactions made > [noun] > shop > shopping centre, precinct, etc.
parade1697
arcade1731
galleria1861
shopping centre1861
shopping precinct1947
shopping mall1950
mall1959
retail park1973
1971 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 18 June 22 a/3 The establishment of a wholesale and retail park at the former railroad freight yards on Whitling Street.]
1973 Chicago Tribune 20 May xii. 1/1 All the stores in the Woodfield Retail Park will be designed to tenants' specifications.
1997 When Saturday Comes Jan. 35/2 There's no doubt, though, that retail-park football is going to help draw in the next generation. I've started taking my nephew to matches and I know my daughter might want to come too, now that Toys R Us and McDonalds are a stroll away.
2000 Guardian (Electronic ed.) 2 Aug. A countryside engulfed by cultural Americana—out-of-town retail parks or residential enclaves, designed primarily with the car in mind.
retail politics n. chiefly U.S. (a) depreciative the conducting of politics as if it were a retail business (rare); (b) a style of political campaigning in which the candidate targets voters on a small-scale or individual basis, typically by attending small meetings and local events.
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1901 Chicago Tribune 23 Sept. 6/7 He has only commercial instinct to see that while his own vote is worth only $5, a ‘block’ of ten votes is worth not $50, but a ‘job’ which will pay him, say $1,000 a year. This is retail politics.
1972 Washington Post 5 Mar. a20/1 ‘There isn't anything I could do in the next few days, in two or three days of retail politics,’ said the senator, riding over icy roads to a speaking engagement.
2001 K. Marton Hidden Power viii. 223 She was good door-to-door. He couldn't do that. He wasn't much good at retail politics.
retail price n. the price at which goods are available from a retailer.
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society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > [noun] > retail price
sale price?1714
retail price1744
resale price1822
1744 London Mag. Jan. 17/1 He will expect a proportionable Profit upon that too, and will, upon that Account, make an Addition to his retail Price.
1765 T. Hutchinson Hist. Colony Massachusets-Bay, 1628–91 (ed. 2) iii. 317 Sold to the Indians at the retail price.
1828 H. G. Ward Mexico in 1827 I. iii. iv. 377 The retail price in the States is fixed at eleven reals per pound of wrought tobacco.
1889 D. A. Wells Recent Econ. Changes v. 192 Retail prices generally have not fallen in proportion to the decline in wholesale prices.
1921 H. E. Erdman Marketing Whole Milk vi. 240 The War Industries Board reports fifteen commodities on most of which the wholesale price has gone up more rapidly than has the retail price.
1999 RAND Jrnl. Econ. 30 454 Manufacturers sometimes attach price labels to their products, indicating the manufacturer's suggested retail prices.
retail price index n. (also retail prices index) an index showing the variation in prices of retail goods, typically used as a measure of inflation; cf. consumer price index n. at consumer n. Compounds 1.
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society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > fluctuation in price > [noun] > index of
index1886
price index1886
retail price index1904
index figure1927
All Ords1958
Nikkei1982
1904 Bull. Bureau Labor Sept. 1176 The Bureau has..also established a retail price index for the purpose of ascertaining more accurately the extent of variation from year to year in the cost of living of workingman's families.
1935 J. H. Cover Retail Price Behavior 86 Though it appears that the median may be more satisfactory for a retail price index, the mean is more logical for a cost-of-living index.
1974 Times 28 Feb. 27 (caption) The domestic purchasing power of the pound, as measured by the retail prices index, is now only 40 per cent of what it was in 1952.
2001 I. McLean Rational Choice & Brit. Politics viii. 221 Each utility company was allowed to increase its prices each year by no more than the average increase in the Retail Price Index.
retail price maintenance n. = resale price maintenance n. at resale n. Compounds 2.
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society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > pricing > [noun] > price-fixing by manufacturers
price fixing1889
resale price maintenance1914
retail price maintenance1914
RPM1951
1914 Anaconda (Montana) Standard 21 Feb. 15/1 Aside from an economic study of the trust question, retail price maintenance is one of the questions to be taken up.
1938 S. Chase Tyranny of Words xiv. 175 The new laws for retail price maintenance.
1966 A. Battersby Math. in Managem. ix. 232 The appeal to elasticity..has given rise to the fierce arguments about Retail Price Maintenance.
2002 G. Symeonidis Effects of Competition v. 212 The agreements provided for retail price maintenance and common maximum discounts to distributors.
retail therapy n. originally U.S. (humorous) the practice or an instance of shopping to cheer oneself up; shopping regarded as a leisure activity.
ΚΠ
1986 Chicago Tribune (Nexis) 24 Dec. 2 We've become a nation measuring out our lives in shopping bags and nursing our psychic ills through retail therapy.
1998 Cosmopolitan (U.K. ed.) Aug. 249/2 (caption) Stop for a reviving cafe au lait or glass of wine (or both!) at Place de General de Gaulle, before setting off for more retail therapy.
2001 Mirror (Electronic ed.) 2 Jan. She can rely on retail therapy for some relaxation. And..she won't have to struggle home on the bus with all her shopping.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† retailn.2
Obsolete. rare.
Retaliation.
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the world > action or operation > behaviour > reciprocal treatment or return of an action > revenge > [noun] > retaliation or retribution
yieldinga1340
talion1412
retributiona1425
recompensec1425
recompensationa1513
requitement1548
retaliation1581
lex talionis1597
requital1597
retaling1597
taliationa1601
law of retalion1607
talio1611
retail1615
retorsion1637
repercussion1641
retributing1645
reddition1656
retortion1762
poetical justice1796
utu1828
retort1836
quits1865
poetic justice1991
1615 T. Adams Lycanthropy 18 in Blacke Devill He that doth iniury, may well receiue it. To looke for good, and do bad, is against the law of Retaile.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
retailv.
/ˈriːteɪl/, U.S. /ˈriˌteɪl/ (in sense 3 also)Brit. /rᵻˈteɪl/, U.S. /rəˈteɪl/, /riˈteɪl/ 1.
a. transitive. To sell (goods) by retail. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > sell [verb (transitive)] > sell in specific manner
retail1365
tap1478
retaliate1640
outsella1687
wholesale1792
to sell short1852
hustle1887
brand1909
oversell1928
package1946
soft-sell1958
test-market1958
mass-market1959
sales-drive1962
bundle1969
cross-sell1972
up-market1972
onsell1979
society > trade and finance > selling > sell [verb (intransitive)] > sell in specific manner
retail?1523
to sell in bulk1678
wholesale1871
best-sell1937
overstock1945
switch-sell1965
rack-job1967
cold-call1972
cross-sell1972
1365–7 [implied in: Hist. MSS Comm.: 10th Rep.: App. Pt. V: MSS Marquis of Ormonde &c. (1885) 292 in Parl. Papers 1884–5 (C. 4576-I) XLII. 1 The retailyng or salis of the commene wyne callid prisage. (at retailing n.)].
1419 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 127 (MED) William Grome..usyd to sel dyuerz warez to the Fraternite of Grocerz, And aftyre retaylyd to diuerz men of the countre.
1422 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 126 (MED) We presente Marion, þe wif of John Thornton, for a foreyn, retaillyng and byeng as a fre woman.
?1474 R. Calle in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 356 I truste be Ester to make of money..at the leeste 1 marke for to retayle the wode our-selfe.
1503–4 Act 19 Hen. VII c. 32 §10 Goodis or cattalles..that..he or they so retaylleth.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xixv Therfore he that byeth grosse sale and retayleth must nedes be a wynnar.
1589 R. Hakluyt tr. J. Hasse in Princ. Navigations ii. 293 Like as we doe vse to retaile by the ounce.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 95 Not shaming to retaile any commodity in small parts.
1660 Proclam. Charles II 26 Sept. (single sheet) No Vintner; Inkeeper, Victualler, Ale-house-keeper..That retailes or Sells Ale or Beer, shall Brew his own Beer or Ale, unless he give security to pay the Excise thereof.
1712 J. Arbuthnot Lewis Baboon Pref. sig. A3 Stamping the Queens Image on viler Metals, which he retails for Beef.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations II. v. ii. 459 The keepers of ale-houses pay for a licence to retail ale and spirituous liquors. View more context for this quotation
1829 E. Bulwer-Lytton Devereux I. ii. iii. 177 Retailing the mixture as soon as he had filled his box.
1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It lxvi. 476 Saloon keepers, who pay a thousand dollars a year for the privilege of retailing whiskey, etc., only make a bare living.
1924 I. Bowman Desert Trails Atacama iv. 78 The merchant proceeded on board..with his stock of onions, squashes, cabbage, lettuce, asparagus, which he retailed at the desert ports.
a1956 E. S. Kelley Devil's Hand (1974) vi. 67 We got only fourteen dollars a ton for our last alfalfa, and just over in San Diego they retail it for twice that.
2007 E. Clark Real Toy Story ii. 42 If a toy is going to be retailed at $9.99, it must be brought in for perhaps $2.
b. intransitive. Of goods: to be sold by retail (at or for a specified price).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > sell [verb (intransitive)] > be sold or find buyers > by retail
retail1802
1802 Monthly Mag. June 513 The great importation of rice..has so much reduced the price of this useful article, that it is now retailing at two pence per lb.
1881 Literary World (Boston) 22 Oct. 375/1 Mr. Bartlett's compilation..retails for three dollars.
1946 S. J. Perelman Keep it Crisp 22 She trailed past me in a cloud of scent that retailed at ninety rugs the ounce.
1973 C. A. Wilson Food & Drink in Brit. viii. 283 Saffron was always very dear, retailing at fourteen or fifteen shillings a pound at various times in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
2004 K. Wells Trav. with Barley vii. 106 A third of the seventeen beers we sampled retailed for $20 or more.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > giving > distributing or dealing out > distribute or deal out [verb (transitive)]
britteneOE
to-dealeOE
dealOE
britOE
setc1275
dispensec1374
dispendc1375
to-seta1387
dispone1429
disposec1430
sparple1435
demean1439
distributea1464
distribue1477
issuec1484
communy1530
to deal out1535
impart1545
disperse1555
retail1576
digest1578
deliver1626
to hand out1648
to dispose of1676
dispensate1701
dole1701
to give out1710
sling1860
to give away1889
to pass out1926
dish1934
1576 A. Fleming tr. Cyrus in Panoplie Epist. 234 I wil regard your commoditie,..leaste in steade of thankes, hate be retailed.
1597 Bp. J. King Lect. Ionas xxxi. 427 Hee shall retale their doinges into their bosomes, and giue them their reward.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Sussex 106 The Abbot refused to retail his men out in such Parcels.
1728 A. Pope Dunciad ii. 114 As the sage dame..By names of Toasts retails each batter'd jade.
1758 S. Johnson Idler 27 May 57 How six Morning and six Evening Writers might agree to retail their articles.
a1816 R. B. Sheridan School for Scandal (rev. ed.) iv. i, in Wks. (1821) II. 93 We shall be all day retailing in this manner; do let us deal wholesale.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan I. i. 12 Little schools,..wherein they retail out, as it were, the education.
1870 E. W. Hooker Life T. Hooker viii. 282 The Armenians..receive their errors by wholesale..and retail them out again in their particular treatises.
3. transitive. To recount or tell again in detail; to repeat to others. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > narration > narrate, relate, or tell [verb (transitive)] > again
reportc1425
renewa1500
retell1593
retail1597
reiteratec1650
re-relate1782
reprise1948
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III iii. i. 77 Me thinkes the truth should liue from age to age, As twere retailde to all posterity. View more context for this quotation
1621 R. Montagu Diatribæ Hist. Tithes 151 They say you haue neither read nor seene all that you cite, but are contented to retaile with your neighbours sometime.
1669 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa VI. iii. viii. 268 I will not retail them.
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. iii. ii. 157 He wou'd retail to them part of a conversation he once heard.
1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xvi. 158 He could repeat all the observations that were retailed in the atmosphere of the play-houses.
1808 W. Scott Marmion v. vii. 251 The licensed fool retailed his jest.
1875 Chambers's Jrnl. cxxxiii. 66 A Cheap-John is retailing his rude witticisms..to induce people to purchase his Sheffield cutlery.
1902 E. W. Merriman Great Plummer Breach-of-promise Case i. 10 It may be the plan of my learned opponent to allow his witnesses to retail all the petty gossip of the neighborhood.
1955 Winnipeg Free Press 8 Sept. 30/6 The remaining two were merely gossipy and spent the two hours retailing relishy little odds and bits of news.
2003 M. Griffiths How to say Goodbye vii. 109 I have watched widows wince with unhappiness as exposes of their late husbands' escapades were retailed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1adj.adv.1384
n.21615
v.1365