A store primarily serving persons in an institution, most often soldiers or prisoners.
Used in a Sentence
commissary
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for commissary.
Editorial note
Along with video visitation, commissary, grievance reporting (kites), inmate phones and just a whole list of other services.
Examples16
Definitions4
Parts of speech1
Quick take
A store primarily serving persons in an institution, most often soldiers or prisoners.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of commissary gathered in one view.
An account which a prisoner uses to buy provisions, or the balance of that account.
A cafeteria at a television or movie studio.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for commissary.
noun
A store primarily serving persons in an institution, most often soldiers or prisoners.
noun
An account which a prisoner uses to buy provisions, or the balance of that account.
noun
A cafeteria at a television or movie studio.
noun
An officer who supplies provisions to an army.
Example sentences
Along with video visitation, commissary, grievance reporting (kites), inmate phones and just a whole list of other services.
They stopped selling them in the commissary and then allowed a year of smoking before possessing them got you in trouble.
You can have someone on the outside put money into your commissary account each month.
The commissary vendors are for-profit and the prisons get kickbacks from them to get exclusive access to the captive customer base.
You have to order supplies through the commissary system, a sort of monopoly drugstore run by the Keefe Group out of Missouri.
Your friend is lucky to have the commissary job, as it is one of few air conditioned places in most prison units.
The prison commissary system (largely run by Keefe Group) tends to overprice and gouge for the vast majority of items they offer.
In one prison discussed during one talk I watched, the prison had a commissary or something run by McDonald's...
As well as the commissary, which is often operated by a private company.
If it were sold at the commissary for $5, it'd be easier for inmates to afford (and keep in mind, as the article states, that inmates can only spend $320 a month on commissary goods).
You still need stuff from the commissary though, so unless someone is putting money in your prison account you'll need to get money somehow.
It also helped to be able to pay off the local gang leader once a week with a pint of ice cream from the commissary.
Quote examples
The commissary is air conditioned, and commissary workers have the best access to limited supplies of "luxury" goods.
And you need to get your cart or truck cleaned at a specially licensed "commissary" every morning.
Paired with the high prices in the commissary they can barely afford "essentials".
From the Washington Post article, "The judges said a commissary worker could tip off the enemy to a deployment after noticing a surge in inventory." The commissary worker's tip in this scenario would not be covered by whistleblower protection because there is no crime in inventory buildup.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use commissary in a sentence?
Along with video visitation, commissary, grievance reporting (kites), inmate phones and just a whole list of other services.
What does commissary mean?
A store primarily serving persons in an institution, most often soldiers or prisoners.
What part of speech is commissary?
commissary is commonly used as noun.