free trade

See synonyms for free trade on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. trade between countries, free from governmental restrictions or duties.

  2. international trade free from protective duties and subject only to such tariffs as are needed for revenue.

  1. the system, principles, or maintenance of such trade.

  2. Chiefly Scot. smuggling.

Origin of free trade

1
First recorded in 1600–10

Other words from free trade

  • free-trade, adjective
  • prefree-trade, adjective

Words Nearby free trade

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use free trade in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for free trade

free trade

noun
  1. international trade that is free of such government interference as import quotas, export subsidies, protective tariffs, etc: Compare protection (def. 3)

  2. archaic illicit trade; smuggling

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for free trade

free trade

Unrestricted trade among nations without government tariffs or customs duties on imports.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.