Showing results for "sales"

• plural of sale.

sales

American  

[seylz] / seɪlz /

noun

1. plural of sale.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or engaged in sales.

   sales records for the month of January; a sales department.

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

But Chinese carmakers like BYD and Xpeng have eaten into German carmakers' sales in the world's largest auto market, leading to painful adjustments at home.

From Barron's • Jul. 12, 2026

He has spent the last 14 years working in engineering sales.

From BBC • Jul. 11, 2026

U.S. sports-drink sales totaled $10.2 billion for the 12 months that ended June 27, according to Nielsen data, up around 1% from the previous year.

From MarketWatch • Jul. 11, 2026

Retail sales are expected to have fallen 0.1%, improving from a 0.6% decline in May, according to the WSJ poll.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 10, 2026

He presided over all the Osage sales, and his moniker, Colonel, made him sound like a veteran of World War I. In fact, it was part of his christened name: Colonel Ellsworth E. Walters.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

Related Words

• commerce
• deal
• dealings
• exchange
• industry
• manufacturing
• market
• selling
• trade
• traffic
• transaction