D defs.my
Entry 3 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Wholesale

/hōl'-sālˌ/ · Whole·sale · IPA /ˈhoʊlseɪl/
01 n. Sale of goods by the piece or large quantity, as distinguished from retail.
  1. 1.
    Sale of goods by the piece or large quantity, as distinguished from retail.
    “Some, from vanity or envy, despise a valuable book, and throw contempt upon it by wholesale.” I. Watts.
Phrases & compounds
By wholesale — in the mass; in large quantities; without distinction or discrimination.
02 a. Pertaining to, or engaged in, trade by the piece or large quantity; selling to retailers or jobbers rather than to consumers; as, a wholesa…
  1. 1.
    Pertaining to, or engaged in, trade by the piece or large quantity; selling to retailers or jobbers rather than to consumers; as, a wholesale merchant; the wholesale price.
  2. 2.
    Extensive and indiscriminate; as, wholesale slaughter.