marketplace
Americannoun
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a place where a public market is held
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any centre where ideas, opinions, etc, are exchanged
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the commercial world of buying and selling
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of marketplace
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at market, place
Explanation
A marketplace is a location where people buy goods. When you travel to a new city, you should visit a marketplace to purchase souvenirs for your friends back home. Marketplace often describes an outdoor market where vendors sell produce, meat, crafts, and other goods. Depending where you are, a marketplace might be called a bazaar, a palengke, or a souk. A more general meaning is an economic system or market, or simply the everyday world where things get bought and sold. You should probably test your new lasagna-flavored ice cream in the marketplace to see if anyone will want to buy it!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Infante sees that selectiveness reflected in the marketplace.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
"The missing vultures are almost back. If you go to the marketplace now, you see vultures. At one time they disappeared, but now they are coming back," Igwe confirms.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
And he led negotiations for China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001 -- a move seen as consolidating the country's transformation from an isolated economy under Mao to the marketplace of the world.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
He provided input as Microsoft developed its marketplace for AI content licensing earlier this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Uncle Abdullah’s face lit up when he recognized Pa Mustapha, a friend from the marketplace.
From "Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina" by Michaela DePrince
To date, most of these popular peptides have been available solely in unregulated online marketplaces.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
"It's appalling that online marketplaces continue to fail to prevent dangerous products from reaching consumers, despite countless warnings."
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
It has called for online marketplaces to be made legally responsible for products sold on their sites, saying this would help protect consumers from dangerous electrical goods.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
That is the steepest single-year decline since the marketplaces opened in 2014.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
To Vranich, the capital’s lack of resemblance to European imperial cities extends well beyond the absence of marketplaces.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
