non-food
non-food — adjective
1. describing products that people buy but do not eat, such as cleaning agents, soa
describing products that people buy but do not eat, such as cleaning agents, soap, toilet paper, or pet food — used especially in shops and supermarkets to separate these from food items.
Maeve picked up some non-food items like shampoo and laundry detergent at the supermarket.
non-food + noun collocation (items)
The store's non-food section sells cleaning supplies, batteries, and kitchen tools.
common noun: non-food section
Adina paid for her groceries together with the non-food products at the checkout counter.
Zola saw that the non-food aisles had been rearranged to make room for fresh fruit.
Smaller shops often keep non-food goods such as stationery and batteries near the front door.
- non-edible
less common in retail; focuses on the property of being unsafe to eat rather than the product category
- non-grocery
used specifically in retail contexts, especially for items not sold in the food aisles
- food
the category that non-food products are contrasted with in shops
文法句型
non-food + noun
用法筆記
This adjective is always placed before a noun and has no comparative or superlative form. It is most common in retail, inventory, and household contexts. The spelling without a hyphen (nonfood) is also accepted in American English.
常見錯誤
non-food — noun
1. a product that people do not eat, especially one sold in a shop next to edible g
a product that people do not eat, especially one sold in a shop next to edible goods; the plural form 'non-foods' is used for this whole category.
The cashier asked whether the basket contained any non-foods before weighing the fruit.
plural form non-foods in a retail scenario
Non-foods like toilet paper and dish soap are often near the back of the store.
Karim sorted the delivery into foods and non-foods before stocking the shelves.
Supermarkets usually earn higher profits on non-foods than on fresh groceries.
Sirin compared the prices of non-foods across three different online shops.
- non-edible item
more formal; used in safety or regulatory writing
- household product
narrower — only covers cleaning and care items, not all non-foods
文法句型
the non-foods
non-foods + verb (plural)
用法筆記
The plural form non-foods appears far more often than the singular non-food in everyday use. The singular is rare and typically found only in inventory or data-classification contexts (e.g., 'is this item a food or a non-food?').