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.
Franchisees have invested thousands of dollars in new equipment per restaurant to mix the drinks, hoping to ring up more sales while not slowing service, the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026
Investors should keep watch for the trade group’s pending home sales report, which measures contract signings, later this month.
From Barron's • Apr. 12, 2026
But the listing threat pales in comparison to the company’s problem of falling sales and mounting losses.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 12, 2026
The National Association of Realtors reports existing-home sales for March.
From Barron's • Apr. 12, 2026
On a good night, we'd be talking fifteen, twenty sales by now.
From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon
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.
