trade winds

American  

[trayd windz] / ˈtreɪd ˌwɪndz /

plural noun

1. tropical and subtropical winds that blow continuously toward the equator, from the northeast in the northern hemisphere and from the southeast in the southern hemisphere.

---

trade winds Scientific  

/ trād /

1. Winds that blow steadily from east to west and toward the equator over most of the Torrid Zone. The trade winds are caused by hot air rising at the equator, with cool air moving in to take its place from the north and from the south. The winds are deflected westward because of the Earth's west-to-east rotation.

2. Compare antitrades

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• trade-wind
  adjective

Example Sentences

El Niño occurs every few years when trade winds of the tropical Pacific weaken and the ocean warms up.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026

They also look for indications that the trade winds in the western Pacific have reversed; signalling that the warming ocean is beginning to influence the atmosphere.

From BBC • May 14, 2026

El Nino can weaken consistent trade winds that blow east to west across the tropical Pacific, influencing weather by affecting the movement of warm water across this vast ocean.

From Barron's • Mar. 2, 2026

These changing weather patterns also weaken the trade winds further, leading to more warm water off the coast of South America, which in turn weakens the winds, and so on.

From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2024

But the moment she saw it my mother decided she didn’t like Curacao and she often complained about the smell of gas and oil whenever the trade winds died down.

From "The Cay" by Theodore Taylor