five-and-dime
noun
variants
or less commonly five-and-ten
plural five-and-dimes also five-and-tens
: a retail store that carries a variety of chiefly inexpensive merchandise
When I was a little girl you could still buy things at the five-and-dime.—
Nikki Giovanni
Nikki GiovanniBut most five-and-dimes faded away, done in by competition from big box stores, or failure to adapt to changing tastes quickly enough.—Carl Nolte
Carl NolteAfter the grocery store came the five-and-ten, a rambling, comfortable hodgepodge of unrelated items and scents.—Lee Ebler
Lee EblerExamples of five-and-dime in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Some considered Woolworth’s the first national discounter, but Woolworth’s is best classified as a Main Street, five-and-dime store, with counters for sandwiches and chocolate egg cremes.
—David Moin, WWD, 21 Oct. 2024
Back in February 1960 in Nashville, a group of mostly Black college students famously took seats at the lunch counter of Woolworth’s five-and-dime downtown to stage a nonviolent protest against segregation.
—Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 13 Aug. 2024
The prominent corner store has seen a succession of uses over the years: it’s been a variety store (the G.C. Murphy five-and-dime shop), a dollar store, an antique mall and, most recently, a restaurant called the Five and Dime Ale House, which closed last year.
—Amanda Yeager, Baltimore Sun, 22 Apr. 2024
The sit-in movement had been touched off on Feb. 1, 1960, when four Black college students sat down at a White-only lunch counter at an F.W. Woolworth five-and-dime store in downtown Greensboro, N.C.
—Emily Langer, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2024
Kmart started in the late 1800s as the S.S. Kresge Co., becoming a small chain of five-and-dime discount stores.
—Dallas News, 26 Feb. 2023
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
David Moin, WWD, 21 Oct. 2024
Back in February 1960 in Nashville, a group of mostly Black college students famously took seats at the lunch counter of Woolworth’s five-and-dime downtown to stage a nonviolent protest against segregation.
—Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 13 Aug. 2024
The prominent corner store has seen a succession of uses over the years: it’s been a variety store (the G.C. Murphy five-and-dime shop), a dollar store, an antique mall and, most recently, a restaurant called the Five and Dime Ale House, which closed last year.
—Amanda Yeager, Baltimore Sun, 22 Apr. 2024
The sit-in movement had been touched off on Feb. 1, 1960, when four Black college students sat down at a White-only lunch counter at an F.W. Woolworth five-and-dime store in downtown Greensboro, N.C.
—Emily Langer, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2024
Kmart started in the late 1800s as the S.S. Kresge Co., becoming a small chain of five-and-dime discount stores.
—Dallas News, 26 Feb. 2023
Articles Related to five-and-dime
Dictionary Entries Near five-and-dime
Cite this Entry
“Five-and-dime.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/five-and-dime. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share