market

American  

[mahr-kit] / ˈmɑr kɪt /

noun

• markets
  plural

1. an open place or a covered building where buyers and sellers convene for the sale of goods; a marketplace.

   a farmers' market.

2. a store for the sale of food.

   a meat market.

3. a meeting of people for selling and buying.

4. the assemblage of people at such a meeting.

5. trade or traffic, especially as regards a particular commodity.

   the market in cotton.

6. a body of persons carrying on extensive transactions in a specified commodity.

   the cotton market.

7. the field of trade or business.

   the best shoes in the market.

8. demand for a commodity.

   an unprecedented market for leather.

9. a body of existing or potential buyers for specific goods or services.

   the health-food market.

10. a region in which goods and services are bought, sold, or used.

    the foreign market; the New England market.

11. current price or value.

    a rising market for shoes.

12. stock market.

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verb (used without object)

• markets,
  present (3rd person singular)
• marketed,
  past participle,  past
• marketing
  present participle

1. to buy or sell in a market; deal.

2. to buy food and provisions for the home.

verb (used with object)

• markets,
  present (3rd person singular)
• marketed,
  past participle,  past
• marketing
  present participle

1. to advertise (something) to a target audience or for a recommended use: This movie was marketed as a horror film, rather than a drama.

   The vacation homes are marketed to retirees and other seniors.

   This movie was marketed as a horror film, rather than a drama.

2. to carry or send to market for disposal.

   to market produce every week.

3. to dispose of in a market; sell.

   Synonyms:

   peddle, merchandise, vend

idioms

1. at the market, at the prevailing price in the open market.

2. on the market, for sale; available.

   Fresh asparagus will be on the market this week.

3. in the market for, ready to buy; interested in buying.

   I'm in the market for a new car.

market British  

/ ˈmɑːkɪt /

noun

1. 1. an event or occasion, usually held at regular intervals, at which people meet for the purpose of buying and selling merchandise

   2. ( as modifier )

      market day

2. a place, such as an open space in a town, at which a market is held

3. a shop that sells a particular merchandise

   an antique market

4. business or trade in a commodity as specified

   the sugar market

5. the trading or selling opportunities provided by a particular group of people

   the foreign market

6. demand for a particular product or commodity

   there is no market for furs here

7. See stock market

8. See market price market value

9. at the current price

10. to wish to buy or acquire

11. available for purchase

12. 1. to speculate on a stock exchange

    2. to act aggressively or unscrupulously in one's own commercial interests

13. a market characterized by excess supply and thus favourable to buyers

14. a market characterized by excess demand and thus favourable to sellers

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verb

1. (tr) to offer or produce for sale

2. (intr) to buy or deal in a market

market More Idioms  

1. see corner the market; drug on the market; flea market; in the market for; on the market; play the market; price out of the market.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• marketer
  noun
• nonmarket
  noun
• submarket
  noun
• premarket
  verb
• remarket
  verb (used with object)
• undermarket
  verb (used with object)
• multimarket
  adjective
• unmarketed
  adjective
• well-marketed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• markets
  plural

Participles

• marketing
  present
• marketed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• market
  simple
• markets
  simple
• have marketed
  perfect
• has marketed
  perfect
• am marketing
  progressive
• are marketing
  progressive
• is marketing
  progressive
• have been marketing
  perfect progressive
• has been marketing
  perfect progressive

Past

• marketed
  simple
• had marketed
  perfect
• was marketing
  progressive
• were marketing
  progressive
• had been marketing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will market
  simple
• will have marketed
  perfect
• will be marketing
  progressive
• will have been marketing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of market

First recorded in 1100–1150; Middle English market, market(t)e, markat(t)e, late Old English market, from Vulgar Latin marcātus (assumed), from Latin mercātus “trading, traffic, market”; see origin at merchant ( def. )

Explanation

Market is both a noun and a verb that have to do with selling. Companies that successfully market potato chips make people buy a big bag at the market. Are you in the market for a new pair of jeans? That means you are looking to buy. You might be the market, or likely customers, for a certain brand. The cost of those jeans will be whatever the market can bear, meaning the most profit that can be made, either by selling fewer pairs at high cost or lots of pairs at a lower cost. But if you buy them on the so-called black market, you might get a bargain price — only to find your new jeans aren't authentic — knock-offs of the real thing.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

market markets marketed marketing

At the same time, government deficits have flooded the market with bonds and fueled consumer spending.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

While many on Wall Street are warning that high rates could pull money out of the stock market and into higher yielding bonds, so far that hasn’t materialized.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

“I think the market can persevere and ultimately move higher — and the bull market can continue,” Schulze said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 20, 2026

Schulze called that a “tail risk,” or an unlikely outcome that could trigger an extreme market reaction.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 20, 2026

I’ve never been to the farmers market, or out on an errand, so I guess the last time would have been when I was six.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

The two-year yield touched 4.744%, its highest intraday yield since July 2024, as markets grew more confident the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates to fight inflation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

The maneuver involves short trips moving oil from Gulf terminals to ports just outside Hormuz, where it can be transferred to vessels headed to global markets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

The new high for the critical borrowing benchmark has created starkly different conditions for markets and the economy from the beginning of the decade, when yields dipped well below 1%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

In June, the company filed a trademark application for “create your own market,” a step toward what former employees say is one of Coplan’s long-desired growth plays—to let people list markets on whatever interests them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

She sent this didactic gem to several markets, but it found no purchaser, and she was inclined to agree with Mr. Dashwood that morals didn’t sell.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

“Evidence shows that the business, marketed to male customers, had a high volume of men entering the establishment over a short period of time each day,” the D.A.’s office said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

It’s marketed as the thinnest iPhone ever—when open.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

Semaglutide, often marketed under the Ozempic and Wegovy banners, was first placed on Wada's monitoring list in 2024.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

“Tigi Tigi” had been marketed as a song to combat racial discrimination — both artists stressed that it was meant to project unity across all ethnicities and races.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

This is how we are marketed and so this is how we end up marketing ourselves.”

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

After getting burned by Amway, the notorious multilevel marketing company, he’d had to work 18-hour days to get by.

From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026

Colleen Babcock, Rightmove's head of partner marketing, says London faces additional challenges because its market is heavily weighted towards flats, and "affordability more broadly remains a key challenge".

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

“Wherever you look in the data center, between the racks, within the rack, data center to data center…we have the entire portfolio of technologies,” Sanjai Parthasarathi, chief marketing officer of Coherent, told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

“Transparency means that the use of AI is disclosed to readers in a clear, honest, and obvious manner,” Pangram, which makes an AI tool that purports to identify AI-generated writing, asserts on its marketing blog.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

“I mean, I’m a pretty good player, but I’m not ranked in the international lists or anything. Are you putting me in for the ratings? As some marketing ploy?”

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu

Related Words

• advertise
• display
• retail