trade route

noun

1. any route usually taken by merchant ships, caravans, etc.

Word History and Origins

Origin of trade route¹

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

Although the subject sounds abstract, the examples are comfortably concrete, from ancient trade routes to 19th-century canals and railroads to modern highway systems.

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Similarly, in the Pacific, interdiction by submarines and aerial mining of trade routes effectively depleted Japan’s fuel reserves by the war’s end.

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The Allenby bridge is a key trade route for goods and medical supplies to enter the West Bank.

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It is a logistics hub where international trade routes converge.

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Europeans sought to find a quicker trade route with these areas by sailing west, but in doing so landed on the Americas instead.

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Related Words

• sea lane