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stock in trade

or stock-in-trade

See more synonyms for stock in trade on Thesaurus.com
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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Origin of stock in trade

First recorded in 1660–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for stock in trade

Historical Examples

  • "Thanks will not supply a stock-in-trade though, Essper," said Vivian.

    Vivian Grey

    Earl of Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli

  • Marjolin, however, ate up nearly the whole of her stock-in-trade.

  • These are the stock-in-trade of the landsman; they were too real for the sailor to sing about.

  • Their stock-in-trade must have been partly traditional and partly of their own composition.

    The Science of Fairy Tales

    Edwin Sidney Hartland

  • Sensations, personalities and fiction are its stock-in-trade.

    Appearances

    Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson

British Dictionary definitions for stock in trade

stock in trade

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 tradefriendliness is the salesman's stock in trade
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012