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Synonyms

chain store

American  

noun

  1. one of a group of retail stores under the same ownership and selling similar merchandise.

chain store British  

noun

  1. Also called: multiple store.  one of several retail enterprises under the same ownership and management

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
chain store Cultural  

  1. One of many retail stores owned by a single corporation and offering similar products. Examples include Sears and Safeway.

Etymology

Origin of chain store

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The nearest one was a chain store three towns over.

From Literature

The chain store failed to quickly remove the recalled formula, ByHeart — linked to a nationwide botulism outbreak — from its retail locations in several states including California, the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

Products at the new store should be less—or at least no more expensive—than at the chain stores, city officials say.

From The Wall Street Journal

If you wanted to buy a book, it was easy to get to one of five huge national chain stores: B. Dalton, Barnes & Noble, Crown Books, Waldenbooks and Borders Books & Music.

From Los Angeles Times

Brown’s inspiration is not just from memories of his youth at the chain store, but contemporary efforts like Jack White’s Third Man Records.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.