Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Relating to or being one of a chain of retail outlets or retailers selling goods in such outlets in volume at low cost in large warehouselike structures usually built outside of downtown areas near major roadways.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective US Of or relating to a very large retail establishment built as a massive, free-standing structure

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Reliance at one time considered making an investment of its own in French big-box Carrefour.

    Winning Indian Retail's Long War Abheek Bhattacharya 2011

  • San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera says the ordinance, passed last year, had originally contained an exemption for grocery stores and so-called big-box stores with pharmacies under the same roof.

    SFGate: Top News Stories 2011

  • And the explosion of malls and so-called big-box stores meant that shopping had graduated from being a necessity or occasional pleasure to a central form of entertainment, a destination that kept people out of the house while they 'shopped till they dropped.'

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed Michael Kesterton 2011

  • criticism was aimed at so-called big-box retailers like Wal-Mart Stores, which has a wholesale business in India.

    NYT > Home Page By VIKAS BAJAJ 2012

  • The show celebrated computer geekdom with a good chunk of the stories taking place in the big-box electronics store.

    On the Set Farewell to Chuck Part 4: The Nerd Legacy 2012

  • The big-box retailer is making a major push to end that inconvenience.

    Wal-Mart Bids to Break Into Gotham Charles Fishman 2011

  • The light coming inside the hut is from the sign for an enormous big-box store down the road.

    Down and Delirious in Mexico City Daniel Hernandez 2011

  • They've already survived the big-box, national-chain onslaught.

    Wal-Mart Bids to Break Into Gotham Charles Fishman 2011

  • She asks readers to ponder a world without the big-box bookseller.

    March « 2009 « The Manga Curmudgeon 2009

  • The big-box retailer and online bookseller on Monday began issuing to members of the media invitations to a special press conference this Wednesday, May 6th at 10: 30 a.m. that will take place at Pace University in Manhattan.

    p2pnet World Headlines – May 4, 2009 2009

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