a marketplace where groceries are sold
"the grocery store included a meat market"
retail foodstuffs and other household supplies.
"They stopped at the grocery to buy milk, bread, and cleaning detergent."
In plain English: A grocery is food and other household items that people buy to cook meals at home.
"We went to the grocery store to buy milk and bread for dinner."
Usage: Use "groceries" as an uncountable mass noun to refer collectively to the items you buy at a store, rather than counting individual products like "a grocery." Avoid using it for non-food household goods unless they are specifically sold alongside food in that same retail context.
To go grocery shopping.
"She asked me to stop at the store on my way home since I was already going grocery anyway."
From Middle English grocerye, equivalent to grocer + -y. Compare gross. Doublet of groceria.