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.
At last year's Budget, the DMO changed its remit for sales of government debt to be less reliant on this type of borrowing.
From BBC • May 5, 2026
Shares recently traded at about 34 times estimated sales for 2027 and about 56 times estimates for free cash flow in that period, “with peak growth likely approaching or having already materialized.”
From MarketWatch • May 5, 2026
—The median sales price of new houses sold in March was $387,400 down 5.3% from February, it added.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026
New bookings — a sign of future sales — were still positive.
From MarketWatch • May 5, 2026
It might take months of bake sales and car washes, but maybe, just maybe, they could raise the money.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
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.
