need help with the correct usage of the word WHOLESALE

[kenryuakuma]

Actually wholesale has two meaning and can also be used as Adjective and Adverb. The initial meaning is sell in low price with great quanity. The second meaning of it is something in a large sale...

And I really don't get it especially the second meaning of this word. Some of the examples that the dictionary provides are:
#wholesale slaughter
#wholesale criticism
#wholesale arrest.

I just wonder if it has the similar meaning of MUCH, MANY and A LOT OF?

[Pete]

>Actually wholesale has two meaning and can also be used as Adjective and Adverb. The initial meaning is sell in low price with great quantity. The second meaning of it is something in a large sale...
>
>And I really don't get it especially the second meaning of this word. Some of the examples that the dictionary provides are:
>#wholesale slaughter
>#wholesale criticism
>#wholesale arrest.
>
>I just wonder if it has the similar meaning of MUCH, MANY and A LOT OF?

-- The second meaning is a figurative application of the first. The meaning is similar, but a bit more restricted than what you suggest. The image is that when something is done in a wholesale manner, it is done without consideration of the affected individuals. Whether it be a purchase or one of the other contexts, a wholesale action is applied to a large number of individuals as a group, not as individuals.

In a wholesale purchase, the buyer does not look at each item. In a wholesale arrest or slaughter, the action is done to everyone who was present or who matched some broad criteria. Synonyms include: in large numbers; extensively; indiscriminately.