Definition of "department store" [de•part•ment store]

• A large retail store offering a variety of merchandise and services and organized in separate departments. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "My mother sold Coty cosmetics at Maison Blanche department store in New Orleans."
• "These scavenger nerds and nebbishes had to learn new skills as the grocery warehouses and department store stockrooms tapped out and we were forced to live off the largesse of the land."
• "The storefront at the Corte Inglés department store had a fabulous Christmas village full of enchanting chalets, snow-covered peaks and a shiny red train that circled the town, hooting its horn at every turn."