Walmart

Walmart proper noun: a chain of large, discount department stores (most of which also sell groceries), originating in the United States and later spreading to several other countries.

Image: Walmart, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Proper noun

Walmart (plural Walmarts)

(trademark) A chain of large, discount department stores (most of which also sell groceries), originating in the United States and later spreading to several other countries.
- It’s pretty obvious if you are a coffee drinker that Starbucks ain’t the Walmart of coffee.2012, Scott McKain, Create Distinction: What to Do When "Great" Isn't Good Enough to Grow Your Business, page 60
- In the 1990s, Barnes & Noble opened superstore after superstore across the United States. It become the Walmart of books, with the same attitude toward vendors.2013, Gary Schwartz, Fast Shopper, Slow Store: A Guide to Courting and Capturing the Mobile Consumer, page 16

Verb

Walmart (third-person singular simple present Walmarts, present participle Walmarting, simple past and past participle Walmarted)

(intransitive) To shop at Walmart.
- Next we went Walmarting, where Shanti picked up more stuff for college, like sports bras in purple, white, and black and a hot water heater for dormitory tea parties.2016, Janet L. Furst, Everyday Truth of a Rainbow Woman, Balboa Press, →ISBN
- You’ll need to choose a day and time slot for pickup — who would have thought we’d ever miss Walmarting on a whim? — so make sure you plan ahead.2020 April 10, Shopping Siren, “Grab and go: If you need it, you can likely get it curbside”, in Sun Journal, page C2
(transitive) To outcompete, or drive out of business, by one's superior size and market share.
- Small farms make it difficult for the flu to spread, unlike in America where poultry majors have Walmarted individual farmers out of business.2006, Outlook, page 150
- He wasn’t thinking, wasn’t competing. Walmarted into obscurity.2009, Charlotte Hinger, chapter 30, in Deadly Descent, Poisoned Pen Press, page 168

Examples of Walmart in a sentence

Step into a Castle Megastore, and it’s clear they aim to be like a big box equivalent to a traditional sex shop — the Walmart of wang, if you will — no identity-concealing trench coat required.2017 February 13, Will Kennedy, “The Walmart of Wang”, in Eugene Weekly, volume 39, number 7, page 13:
“They Walmarted the cities and towns, and now they’re getting what they deserve.2011 February 17, David Runk, “Bankruptcy worries Borders shoppers: Four Michigan stores to close, company says”, in The Times Herald, Port...
"Basically I've been Walmarted out of the business."2013 July 5, “What they said - quotes from Chu, Morgenstern”, in SFGate:
Norwegian is recruiting U.S. flight crews, and the giant lines have already Walmarted much of their offshore maintenance, reservations services, and such.2014 July 27, Ed Perkins, “Transparent Airfares Act expected to come up for vote in U.S. House”, in Orlando Sentinel, page J9:

Forms of Walmart

Proper noun
plural	Walmarts
alternative form	Wal-Mart
Verb
third-person singular present	Walmarts
present participle	Walmarting
past participle	Walmarted
past	Walmarted

Origin of Walmart

The company name is likely an abbreviation for “Walton’s Mart”, after its founder, Sam Walton; Walton's choice of the name was inspired by the example of FedMart (more at Walmart § History on Wikipedia). The name was originally spelled Wal-Mart and later changed to Walmart.

Words formed from Walmart

Phrases with Walmart

Questions about Walmart

What does Walmart mean?: Walmart means a chain of large, discount department stores (most of which also sell groceries), originating in the United States and later spreading to several other countries.
How do you use Walmart in a sentence?: Step into a Castle Megastore, and it’s clear they aim to be like a big box equivalent to a traditional sex shop — the Walmart of wang, if you will — no identity-concealing trench coat required.
What part of speech is Walmart?: Walmart can be a proper noun or a verb.

Words near Walmart in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: Walmart (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-Walmart.ogg.

Cite this entry: “Walmart.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/walmart. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.