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

But the company has also been accused of overhyping the powers of a technology that is its stock in trade, and the subject of neck-and-neck competition with rival OpenAI.

From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026

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

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2024

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

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 7, 2023

Macras doesn’t go in for the shock tactics that are Holzinger’s stock in trade, but she still appears to take a page from the younger and more transgressive practitioner of dance theater.

From New York Times • Jan. 20, 2023

Deuterons being the Rad Lab’s stock in trade, Lawrence commanded, “Let’s try it out.”

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik