out ‧ let /ˈaʊtlet, -lət/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . a way of expressing or getting rid of strong feelings
outlet for
Is football a good outlet for men’s aggression?
an outlet for creativity
2 .
a) formal a shop, company, or organization through which products are sold:
Benetton has retail outlets in every major European city.
a fast-food outlet
b) a shop that sells things for less than the usual price, especially things from a particular company or things of a particular type
3 . American English a place on a wall where you can connect electrical equipment to the supply of electricity SYN power point British English
4 . a pipe or hole through which something such as a liquid or gas can flow out:
a waste water outlet
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THESAURUS
▪ shop especially British English , store especially American English a building or place where things are sold:
She's gone to the shops to get some milk.
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a clothes shop
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Our local store has sold out of sugar for making jam.
▪ boutique a small shop that sells fashionable clothes or other objects:
a little boutique which specializes in bath products.
▪ superstore British English a very large shop, especially one that is built outside the centre of a city:
Out -of-town superstores have taken business away from shops in the city centre.
▪ department store a very large shop that is divided into several big parts, each of which sells one type of thing, such as clothes, furniture, or kitchen equipment:
He went around all the big department stores in Oxford Street.
▪ supermarket ( also grocery store American English ) a very large shop that sells food, drinks, and things that people need regularly in their homes:
Supermarkets have cut down the number of plastic bags they distribute by 50%.
▪ salon a shop where you can get your hair washed, cut curled etc
▪ garden centre British English , nursery especially American English a place that sells a wide range of plants, seeds, and things for your garden:
Your local garden centre can advise you on which plants to grow.
▪ outlet formal a shop that sells things for less than the usual price, especially things from a particular company or things of a particular type:
The book is available from most retail outlets.
▪ market an area, usually outdoors, where people buy and sell many different types of things:
I usually buy our vegetables at the market – they're much cheaper there.
▪ mall especially American English a large area where there are a lot of shops, especially a large building:
A new restaurant has opened at the mall.
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We used to hang around together at the mall.
▪ strip mall American English a row of shops built together, with a large area for parking cars in front of it:
Strip malls can seem rather impersonal.