department store
100
1.3
- noun
- /dɪˈpɑrtmənt stɔr/
:
gran almacén
- I went downtown and browsed through one of the department stores for the rest of the afternoon.
- a local department store
- a large department store
- purchase at department stores
One of his friends was a key man and they robbed a department store.
- One of his friends was a key man and they robbed a department store.
- So we darted across to the to the department store, over the road, and then bought just matching shirts.
- If I had to go promote something, they would have to rent out the, the, the, the main floor of a department store.
- My mum worked in the local department store and we were happy.
- And he said buyers, department store buyers are experts at yesterday, right?
- Oh, no, I start partnering with the biggest department store in Ecuador.
- It's from a department store based on the West Coast that went bankrupt.
Examples
-
My mum worked in the local department store and we were happy.
-
Let's just say you were to see this knife set in a department store.
-
We did not know that rich people went to a department store and bought one.
-
Make money, go to a department store and buy some nice clothes.
Fiction book (1995) -
I'm in the middle of a New York department store.
-
When he was bored, he used to walk downtown to the department store and visit us.
Fiction book (1990) -
Mother needed money, and first found work as a seamstress in a department store.
Fiction book (1993) -
John Lewis department stores have become highly successful due to their ethos of staff ownership.
Academic text (2012) -
She is working at a large department store while she is finishing her master's degree.
-
She found a beautiful dress at the local department store for the wedding.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A shop where people buy goods like food or clothes
27
1.0
A shop that sells goods in small amounts directly to people
22
6.0
A large shop that sells many different things in separate sections
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a large retail store divided into various departments' is directly compositional from 'department' (a distinct section or unit) + 'store' (a shop), so a learner who knows both words can infer the combined meaning. This construction is common cross-linguistically (e.g., Spanish 'tienda por departamentos') and follows straightforward noun–noun compounding patterns, making it immediately understandable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Department store comes from big shops that were split into different departments such as clothing or furniture, all under one roof. That's why it means a 'large store' where you can buy many kinds of goods.