stock in trade

American  

Or stock-in-trade

noun

1. the requisites for carrying on a business, especially goods kept on hand for sale in a store.

2. resources or abilities peculiar to an individual or group or employed for a specific purpose.

   A feeling for language should be part of the stock in trade of any writer.

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stock in trade British  

noun

1. goods in stock necessary for carrying on a business

2. anything constantly used by someone as a part of his profession, occupation, or trade

   friendliness is the salesman's stock in trade

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Etymology

Origin of stock in trade

First recorded in 1660–70

Example Sentences

A paper in Nature traces how dinosaurs became the dominant animals on the planet in the late Triassic and early Jurassic periods by using fossilized dung and vomit, rather than paleontologists’ usual stock in trade, bones, and teeth.

From Science Magazine

As a fighter whose stock in trade is the knockout, British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley feels he can't criticise people for craving a spectacle he very much wants to supply.

From BBC

Football commentator Martin Tyler's voice is his stock in trade.

From BBC

National Review defended itself and Steyn’s column with the sort of vacuous braggadocio that is its stock in trade.

From Los Angeles Times

That alternation between the serious and the absurd was the series’ stock in trade.

From Los Angeles Times