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.
While garage sales are fun, they are also a lot of work.
From MarketWatch • May 28, 2026
While K-beauty might be trendy, it’s still a small percentage of total American beauty sales.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
Some of the valuation boosts will last, but not every investor can bring themselves to pay 80 times sales.
From Barron's • May 28, 2026
As I said, I loved being part of garage sales growing up.
From MarketWatch • May 28, 2026
"You always need change, especially in the beginning. You'll lose sales if you can't make change."
From "The Lemonade War" by Jacqueline Davies
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.
