Synonyms

open market

American

noun

an unrestricted competitive market in which any buyer and seller is free to participate.

open market British

noun

1. a market in which prices are determined by supply and demand, there are no barriers to entry, and trading is not restricted to a specific area
2. ( as modifier )
  
  open-market value

"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

Other Word Forms

open-market

adjective

Etymology

Origin of open market

First recorded in 1760–70

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:

open market

Investors should look to see whether anyone else pays cash up front to lock in wafers, which would be a measure of how little faith buyers have in the open market.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

Rents can also only be increased once a year to the property's "open market rent".

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

Graham bought 15 shares of SpaceX on the open market during the stock’s first trading session, paying $172.54 per share, according to documents viewed by MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026

It’s unclear whether those shares were received as an IPO subscription before trading began, or bought in the open market after SpaceX started trading.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

At a stall in an open market, Dicey bought little sandwiches made of flat sausages in biscuits.

From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023