Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Wholesale \Whole"sale`\, n.
   Sale of goods by the piece or large quantity, as
   distinguished from retail.

   {By wholesale}, in the mass; in large quantities; without
      distinction or discrimination.

            Some, from vanity or envy, despise a valuable book,
            and throw contempt upon it by wholesale. --I. Watts.

Wholesale \Whole"sale`\, a.
   1. Pertaining to, or engaged in, trade by the piece or large
      quantity; selling to retailers or jobbers rather than to
      consumers; as, a wholesale merchant; the wholesale price.

   2. Extensive and indiscriminate; as, wholesale slaughter. ``A
      time for wholesale trust.'' --Mrs. Humphry Ward.

Source : WordNet®

wholesale
     adj 1: selling or related to selling goods in large quantities for
            resale to the consumer; "wholesale prices"; "a
            wholesale produce market" [ant: {retail}]
     2: ignoring distinctions; "sweeping generalizations";
        "wholesale destruction" [syn: {sweeping}]

wholesale
     n : the selling of goods to merchants; usually in large
         quantities for resale to consumers [ant: {retail}]

wholesale
     adv 1: at a wholesale price; "I can sell it to you wholesale" [ant:
             {retail}]
     2: on a large scale without careful discrimination; "I buy food
        wholesale" [syn: {in large quantities}]

wholesale
     v : sell in large quantities [ant: {retail}]