- plural of sale.
sales
Americannoun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of sales
First recorded in 1820–30, for the adjective
Explanation
When a company’s sales are down, it hasn’t been making money. The word sales refers to income. If a bathing suit company’s sales are low, it should stop making wool bikinis. Sales is also the plural of “sale.” If a jewelry maker is worried about sales during the year's slow months, he might offer a discount. And when a big company focuses too much on sales, they sometimes lose track of the other aspects of doing business. Stores have big sales. The job or activity of selling things is also known as sales, so you could have a sales job, or even a title like "Director of Sales" or "sales representative."
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.
That administration’s policies targeted 50% of U.S. car sales to be electric, hydrogen or plug-in hybrid models by 2030.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
Nord Stream was a major investment and worth big money to Moscow in fuel sales.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
As for stocks on his radar, Dalio urged investors to watch out for companies poised for transformation by AI, for example through increased sales or reduced costs.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026
He likened it to how sales of the Big Issue increase when Prince William helps to sell the magazine for the homeless.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
The other man took the piece of paper and pinned it on the corkboard, where the notices of dances, auction sales, whist drives, and so on were displayed.
From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman
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.
