Debt And Capital Lease Obligations (Capital Lease And Financing Obligations) (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
Mar. 02, 2019	Sep. 01, 2018
Capital Leased Assets [Line Items]
Amount due under capital leases and financing agreements	$ 28,609	$ 27,926
Property and equipment acquired under capital leases and financing agreements	442
Property and equipment acquired under capital leases and financing agreements, accumulated amortization	18
Non-cash financing activity related to the capital lease	$ 1,345
Fulfillment Center [Member]
Capital Leased Assets [Line Items]
Capital lease term	20 years
Amount due under capital leases and financing agreements	$ 27,025	$ 27,025
Minimum [Member] \| Fulfillment Center [Member]
Capital Leased Assets [Line Items]
Capital lease, prepayment term with no penalty	7 years
Maximum [Member] \| Fulfillment Center [Member]
Capital Leased Assets [Line Items]
Capital lease, prepayment term with no penalty	20 years

Capital lease, prepayment term with no penalty

No definition available.

Name:	msm_CapitalLeasePrepaymentTermWithNoPenalty
Namespace Prefix:	msm_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Lessee Leasing Arrangements, Capital Leases, Term of Contract

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	msm_LesseeLeasingArrangementsCapitalLeasesTermOfContract
Namespace Prefix:	msm_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount equal to the present value (the principal) at the beginning of the lease term of minimum lease payments during the lease term (excluding that portion of the payments representing executory costs such as insurance, maintenance, and taxes to be paid by the lessor, together with any profit thereon) net of payments or other amounts applied to the principal through the balance sheet date.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(22))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 840
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84164817&loc=d3e45280-112737

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03(a)(16))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CapitalLeaseObligations
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The increase during the period in capital lease obligations due to entering into new capital leases.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98513485&loc=d3e4313-108586

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98513485&loc=d3e4304-108586

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CapitalLeaseObligationsIncurred
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount before accumulated depreciation of leased physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 840
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84164758&loc=d3e45014-112735

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CapitalLeasedAssetsGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CapitalLeasedAssetsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The total charge for the use of long-lived depreciable assets subject to a lease meeting the criteria for capitalization.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 840
-SubTopic 10
-Section 55
-Paragraph 40
-Subparagraph (Note 2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82846649&loc=d3e38371-112697

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 840
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84164758&loc=d3e45014-112735

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CapitalLeasesLesseeBalanceSheetAssetsByMajorClassAccumulatedDeprecation
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=msm_FulfillmentCenterMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: