trade Definition

trade
noun

1a. The act, an instance or the process of buying and selling;

Thesaurus: commerce, exchange, market, barter, dealing, transactions, commodities.
1b. Buying and selling at an international level.

Example: foreign trade
2a. A job, occupation or means of earning a living that involves skilled work, especially as opposed to professional or unskilled work;

Example: left school at 16 to learn a trade
Thesaurus: craft, vocation, job, work, profession, occupation, line of work, avocation.
2b. The people and businesses that are involved in a specified job of this kind.

Example: the building trade
3a. Business and commerce, especially as opposed to a profession or the owning of landed property;
3b. The people involved in this.
4. Customers.

Example: the lunch-time trade
5. Business at a specified time, for a specified market or of a specified nature.

Example: the tourist trade
6. The trade winds.

Form: trades

verb traded, trading

intr
1. To buy and sell; to engage in trading.

Example: trades in securities
Thesaurus: deal, barter, bargain, do business, peddle.
2a. To exchange (one commodity) for another;

Thesaurus: exchange, swap, barter.
2b. To exchange (blows, insults, etc);
2c. colloq
To swap.
Example: traded a photo of Johnny Depp for one of Brad Pitt

Derivative: trader

See separate entry.

Derivative: trading
noun, adj

Idiom: by trade

As a means of earning a living.
Example: a plumber by trade

Etymology: 14c: originally meaning ‘a course or path'.

Phrasal Verb: trade something in

To give something, eg a car, domestic appliance, etc, as part payment for something else, especially for a newer, more sophisticated etc version. See also trade-in.

Phrasal Verb: trade something off

To give something in exchange for something else, usually as a compromise. See also trade-off.

Phrasal Verb: trade on something

To take unfair advantage of something, especially someone else's generosity, gullibility, etc.
Example: traded on his sister's popularity
To use something, eg a personal attribute, to one's advantage.
Example: trades on her good looks