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trade on

British  

verb

  1. (intr, preposition) to exploit or take advantage of

    he traded on her endless patience

"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

trade on Idioms  
  1. Profit by, exploit, as in The children of celebrities often trade on their family names. [Late 1800s]


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Under EU rules, the European Commission deals with trade on behalf of the member states.

From BBC Sep. 15, 2026

“Suno exists to help people create new, original music, not to trade on anyone’s name.”

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 1, 2026

Treasury yields fell following the decision on Wednesday and continued to do so in Asian and early European trade on Thursday.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 20, 2026

U.S. equity indexes were lower in recent trade on Tuesday, even as bond yields ticked slightly lower.

From MarketWatch Aug. 18, 2026

Yet today’s cruise ships continue to trade on the vestiges of their upper-class mystique, even while offering new amenities like onboard ice skating and wall climbing.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

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