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definitions

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.

Origin of stock in trade

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

Related Words for stock in trade

funds, inventory, resources, stock, supply

Examples from the Web for stock in trade

Historical Examples of stock in trade

  • "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
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