From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishwholesalewhole‧sale1 /ˈhəʊlseɪl $ ˈhoʊl-/ ●○○ noun [uncountable] BBTthe business of selling goods in large quantities at low prices to other businesses, rather than to the general public → retail
Examples from the Corpus
wholesale• Record grain prices have already forced cutbacks in chicken production, producing a 16 percent increase in broiler prices at wholesale.• Ray picks a number out of thin air -- generally below wholesale -- and the deal is done.• Shosteck said the lowest wholesale prices for cellular phones was $ 216 in 1993.wholesalewholesale2 ●○○ adjective 1 BBTrelating to the business of selling goods in large quantities at low prices to other businesses, rather than to the general public → retail wholesale prices2 BIG[usually before noun] affecting almost everything or everyone, and often done without any concern for the results the capture and wholesale destruction of a city This company will not be successful until there are wholesale changes. —wholesale adverb I can get it for you wholesale.Examples from the Corpus
wholesale• Nor does there seem to have been any wholesale burning of books and manuscripts.• Banks were able to bid aggressively for wholesale deposits and to take in funds in return for the issue of certificates of deposit.• As Figure 17.6 shows, wholesale funding has accounted for a growing share of the building societies' total funding.• There may be speculation that wholesale prices will fall further, he said.• The shopkeeper buys his fruit and vegetables at wholesale prices.• What we need is a wholesale restructuring of the process.From Longman Business Dictionarywholesalewhole‧sale1 /ˈhəʊlseɪlˈhoʊl-/ noun [uncountable]COMMERCE the business of selling large quantities of goods at low prices to other businesses, rather than to the general publicwholesalewholesale2 adjectiveCOMMERCE1involving the business of selling goods in large quantities to businesses, rather than to the general publicThewholesale trade sector lost 14,000 jobs.Japan’s overallwholesale prices in December were unchanged.2involving the business of providing services to other businesses, rather than to the general publicThe country’s long-term credit banks are primarily wholesale lenders (=banks that lend to other financial institutions and to companies). → compare retail1 —wholesale adverbDealing wholesale requires certification by a local authority. 