Meaning & use
groceries
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“groceries” is a form of “grocery”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
nounplural
Food and everyday household items that you buy from a supermarket or food store.
Grammar: Takes a plural verb: the groceries were heavy.
Patterns
- buy groceries
- do the groceries
- groceries for something
I stopped at the market to buy groceries for the week.
He carried the heavy bags of groceries up three flights of stairs.
Online groceries are delivered to our door every Friday.
Word forms
| singular | grocery |
|---|
Common combinations
- buy groceries
- We buy groceries on Saturday mornings.
- do the groceries
- Can you do the groceries on your way home?
- unpack the groceries
- Help me unpack the groceries.
- weekly groceries
- Our weekly groceries cost more this year.
- order groceries online
- She orders groceries online to save time.
Synonyms and how they differ
- provisions
- Provisions is more formal and suggests food and supplies gathered for a trip or a group.
- supplies
- Supplies covers any needed materials, while groceries are food and household items from a store.
- shopping
- Shopping is the British everyday word, though it can also include clothes and other goods.
- food shopping
- Food shopping stresses the activity of buying food rather than the items themselves.
Word family
- grocery noun
- a food store, or a single food item
- grocer noun
- a person who sells food and household goods
- grocery store noun
- a shop selling food
- greengrocer noun
- a shop that sells fruit and vegetables
Commonly confused: groceries or grocer?
groceries vs grocer
A grocer is the person or shop selling the goods, while groceries are the goods themselves.
Practice
Which sentence is correct?
Choose one answer.
Groceries is a plural noun so it takes are. Grocer means a person and grocery is singular, so they do not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “groceries”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.