noun
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a person who engages in trade; dealer; merchant
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a vessel regularly employed in foreign or coastal trade
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stock exchange a member who operates mainly on his or her own account rather than for customers' accounts
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of trader
Explanation
A trader is a person who either buys goods and resells them, like a merchant who runs a store or a person who buys and sells stocks and bonds. The original meaning of trader was "one engaged in commerce," meaning someone who makes a living buying things and selling them at a profit. Originally, traders would literally trade goods for other goods, while today most of them trade goods for money. Financial traders work solely with money, buying and selling currency, stocks, bonds, and funds.
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.
Then say “open space,” and they’d probably look around for that sweet piece of unoccupied curb right in front of Trader Joe’s.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
“Markets ‘moved on’ from the war and oil prices when gas prices stopped going up,” Esther Sholes, senior macro analyst at Take Profit Trader, and former portfolio manager at Millennium Investment Management, told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 24, 2026
If you want frozen garlic — already sectioned and ready-to-use — Trader Joe’s carries the Dorot brand of frozen crushed garlic cubes.
From Salon • Apr. 19, 2026
Trader Joe’s has been on an expansion spree.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026
Audrey set a Trader Joe’s bag in front of me.
From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence
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.
