trade

American  

[treyd] / treɪd /

noun

1. the act or process of buying, selling, or exchanging commodities, at either wholesale or retail, within a country or between countries.

   domestic trade; foreign trade.

   Synonyms:

   dealing, barter, business

2. the act of buying, selling, or exchanging stocks, bonds, or currency.

   Stock brokerages typically charge a commission per trade.

3. a purchase or sale; business deal or transaction.

4. an exchange of items, usually without payment of money.

   Synonyms:

   swap

5. Sports. the transfer of a player or players among professional teams.

   a midseason trade.

6. any occupation pursued as a business or livelihood.

   Synonyms:

   craft, living, employment, métier, vocation

7. some line of skilled manual or mechanical work; craft.

   the trade of a carpenter; printer's trade.

8. people engaged in a particular line of business.

   a lecture of interest only to the trade.

9. market.

   an increase in the tourist trade.

10. a field of business activity.

    a magazine for the furniture trade.

11. the customers of a business establishment.

12. Informal. trade paper.

13. trades. trade wind.

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verb (used with object)

traded, trading

1. to buy and sell; barter; traffic in.

2. to exchange.

   to trade seats.

3. Sports. to transfer (a player under contract) from one team to another.

   The manager traded two defensive players at the end of the season.

verb (used without object)

traded, trading

1. to carry on trade.

2. to be bought, sold, or exchanged.

   Stocks traded lower after the release of the jobs report.

3. to traffic (usually followed byin ).

   a tyrant who trades in human lives.

4. to make an exchange.

5. to make one's purchases; shop; buy.

adjective

1. of or relating to trade or commerce.

2. used by, serving, or intended for a particular trade.

   trade journal.

3. Also trades. of, composed of, or serving the members of a trade.

   a trade club.

verb phrase

1. trade in to give (a used article) as payment to be credited toward a purchase.

   We trade in our car every three years.

2. trade down to exchange a more valuable or desirable item for a less valuable or desirable one.

3. trade up to exchange a less valuable or desirable item for a more valuable or desirable one.

4. trade off to exchange something for or with another.

5. trade on / upon to turn to one's advantage, especially selfishly or unfairly; exploit.

   to trade on the weaknesses of others.

trade British  

/ treɪd /

noun

1. the act or an instance of buying and selling goods and services either on the domestic (wholesale and retail) markets or on the international (import, export, and entrepôt) markets

2. a personal occupation, esp a craft requiring skill

3. the people and practices of an industry, craft, or business

4. exchange of one thing for something else

5. the regular clientele of a firm or industry

6. amount of custom or commercial dealings; business

7. a specified market or business

   the tailoring trade

8. an occupation in commerce, as opposed to a profession

9. commercial customers, as opposed to the general public

   trade only

   trade advertising

10. slang:homosexual a sexual partner or sexual partners collectively

11. archaic a custom or habit

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verb

1. (tr) to buy and sell (commercial merchandise)

2. to exchange (one thing) for another

3. (intr) to engage in trade

4. (intr) to deal or do business (with)

   we trade with them regularly

adjective

1. intended for or available only to people in industry or business

   trade prices

trade Cultural  

1. Business or commerce; economic activity.

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trade Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing trade

• tricks of the trade

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Related Words

Trade , commerce , traffic refer to the exchanging of commodities for other commodities or money. Trade is the general word: a brisk trade between the nations. Commerce applies to trade on a large scale and over an extensive area: international commerce. Traffic may refer to a particular kind of trade; but it usually suggests the travel, transportation, and activity associated with or incident to trade: the opium traffic; heavy traffic on the railroads. See occupation. Trade , bargain , barter , sell refer to exchange or transfer of ownership for some kind of material consideration. Trade conveys the general idea, but often means to exchange articles of more or less even value: to trade with Argentina. Bargain suggests a somewhat extended period of coming to terms: to bargain about the price of a horse. Barter applies especially to exchanging goods, wares, labor, etc., with no transfer of money for the transaction: to barter wheat for machinery. Sell implies transferring ownership, usually for a sum of money: to sell a car.

Other Word Forms

• intertrade noun
• nontrade noun
• nontrading adjective
• protrade adjective
• retrade verb
• tradable adjective
• tradeable adjective
• tradeless adjective
• undertrade verb
• untradable adjective
• untradeable adjective
• untraded adjective
• untrading adjective

Etymology

Origin of trade

First recorded in 1300–50; 1540–50 trade for def. 6; Middle English: “course, path, track,” from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch ( Old Saxon trada ), cognate with Old High German trata; akin to tread

Explanation

When Bobby has peanut butter but wants bologna and Billy has bologna but wants peanut butter––they can make a trade. Trade also means a set of job skills––to learn a trade means to train for a certain job. The concept of trading––or bartering––forms the basis of modern civilization––it brings along division of labor, literacy, urbanization. Thinking in those terms you can see how tradespeople––those trained in trades end up essentially trading their services, with money being introduced when the barter system breaks down or becomes too complex.

Example Sentences

Those years proved consequential for other reasons as well since Vachon was the general manager who finalized the 1988 trade that brought Gretzky to L.A.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

Most don’t think the conflict will derail a resilient economy that has withstood a string of recent hurdles, from searing inflation to seismic changes in trade and immigration policy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

Vachon was still living by the beach in Southern California in 2016 when his wife, Nicole, whom he married less than a month after his trade to the Kings, died of brain cancer.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

The prime minister has announced massive military spending increases and sought new trade deals in Europe and Asia.

From Barron's • Apr. 11, 2026

"In trade for your knowledge of the way."

From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda

Related Words

• business
• commerce
• contract
• deal
• enterprise
• exchange
• industry
• market
• traffic
• transaction