dry goods
a. A name (chiefly in N. Amer.) for the class of merchandise comprising textile fabrics and related things; articles of drapery, mercery, and haberdashery (as opposed to groceries).
| 1657 J. Alrichs Let. 25 May in Pennsylvania Archives (1877) V. 285 Some of the dry goods, entirely scattered about, were wet and injured by the quantity of water in the ship. 1708 Deplorable State New Eng. 18 in Sewall's Diary (1879) II. 115* One Hog's-Head of Dry Goods. 1775 A. Burnaby Trav. 71 With the dry goods, which they purchase in London, they traffick in the neighbouring colonies. 1812 H. & J. Smith Rej. Addr., Loyal Effusion, And raised the price of dry goods and tobaccos. 1821 Dwight Trav. I. 187 There were in New-Haven..41 stores of dry goods. 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 26 Mar. 6/4 Fire..worked havoc in the $40,000 stock of groceries, drygoods, shoes and general stock carried by Messrs. Malpass & Wilson. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 31 Sellers and buyers of produce, hardware, dry goods and what-not. |
b. attrib., as dry-goods business, dry goods dealer, dry goods shop, dry goods store; dry-ˈgoodsman, one who sells dry goods.
| a 1813 A. Wilson Foresters Poet. Wks. (1846) 233 At length we spelt this precious piece of lore; ‘Pat Dougherty's Hotel and Drygood Store’. 1837 Hawthorne Amer. Note-bks. 12 Aug., Fellow-passenger, a Boston dry-goods dealer, travelling to collect bills. 1863 ― Our Old Home (1883) I. 160 What we should call a dry-goods store, or, according to the English phrase, a mercer's and haberdasher's shop. 1863 Dicey Federal St. I. 3 A number of New York and Boston dry-goods men. |