mom and pop
mom and pop noun: a small business, often but not always owned or operated by a family. Also the alternative form of mom-and-pop.
Noun (1)
mom and pop (plural mom and pops)
- A small business, often but not always owned or operated by a family.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see mom, and, pop.
- Also, love for mom and pop.1952 November 24, “Religion”, in Time: The Weekly Newsmagazine, volume LX, number 21, Chicago, Ill.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 76, column 2
Adjective capitalized: Mom and Pop
Mom and Pop (not comparable)
- Alternative form of mom-and-pop.
- These family wineries had even less direct consumer contact than the Mom and Pop businesses. […] Problems also plagued California’s winery co-ops, which did just about as poorly as Mom and Pop and small family operations.1994, Jay Stuller, Glen Martin, “The Old Guard”, in Through the Grapevine: The Real Story Behind America’s $8 Billion Wine Industry, New York, N.Y.: HarperCollinsWest, →ISBN, section 2 (A Ripening...
- The Road—a string of black asphalt winding through mountains, then, framed by golden wheat, stretching as far as the eye can see, mile after mile past lives of everyday folks just like us, past hitchhikers trying to convey with a look and a thumb why they are worthy of a ride, past Mom and Pop...2003, Marnie Sperry, “The Road”, in Pebbles, the Thunderbird Writers’ Group, The Barmaid, the Bean Counter, and the Bungee Jumper: A Collection of Short Stories and Poetry, Carmel, Calif....
Noun (2) capitalized: Mom and Pop
Mom and Pop (plural Mom and Pops)
- Alternative form of mom and pop.
- The new supermarkets were killing the Mom and Pops, and centralized purchasing would help them compete.1990, J. L. Chestnut, Jr.; Julia Cass, “My Dreams”, in Black in Selma: The Uncommon Life of J. L. Chestnut, Jr.: Politics and Power in a Small American Town, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and...
- Most of these wineries folded, sold out, or merged with others, although when compared to the Mom and Pops, a slightly higher percentage survived.1994, Jay Stuller, Glen Martin, “The Old Guard”, in Through the Grapevine: The Real Story Behind America’s $8 Billion Wine Industry, New York, N.Y.: HarperCollinsWest, →ISBN, section 2 (A Ripening...
Also used as
mom and pop is also the alternative form of mom-and-pop.
Forms of mom and pop
| plural | mom and pops |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Mom and Pop |
| alternative form | mom-and-pop |
| alternative form | Mom-and-Pop |
| plural | Mom and Pops |
Origin of mom and pop
Named for the archetypical case in which such a business is run by a self-employed couple with children.
Questions about mom and pop
- What does mom and pop mean?
- Mom and pop means a small business, often but not always owned or operated by a family.
- What part of speech is mom and pop?
- Mom and pop can be a noun or an adjective.
- What is the plural of mom and pop?
- The plural of mom and pop is mom and pops.
Words near mom and pop in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: mom and pop (page history and authors); Mom and Pop (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “mom and pop.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mom_and_pop. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.