Definition

Noun: - A retail establishment that sells hardware, tools, household implements, and other goods typically made of metal. Historically common in British English.

Usage

This noun refers to the physical store itself. It is used as a singular, countable noun. - We need a new hammer; let's go to the ironmonger's shop. - The old ironmonger's shop on the high street sells everything from nails to paint.

Advanced Usage

• The term can often be shortened colloquially to "the ironmonger's," using the possessive form to imply the shop.
  • I bought these hinges at the ironmonger's.

Variants and Related Words

• Ironmonger (noun): The person who owns or works in such a shop.
  • Ask the ironmonger for advice on the right drill bit.
• Hardware store (noun): The more common modern equivalent, especially in American English.

Synonyms

• Hardware store
• Hardware shop

Notes on Different Meanings

This term has no significantly different meanings. Its primary and only common meaning is as defined above. It is a British English term that has become less common, largely replaced by "hardware store."

Noun

1. a store selling hardware
   • in Great Britain they used to call a hardware store an ironmonger's shop