traveling salesman

American  

noun

1. a male representative of a business firm who travels in an assigned territory soliciting orders for a company's products or services.

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Usage

What does traveling salesman mean? A traveling salesman is a man whose job is to sell products or services by traveling to different places, often within a certain region or assigned territory. A traveling salesman can be called a traveling salesperson. The equivalent term for a woman is traveling saleswoman. The plural of salesman is salesmen. A salesman is often said to “work in sales”—in which sales refers to the type of occupation or the division or department within a company. The term salesman can refer to a man who sells directly to customers or to other businesses or organizations. Sometimes, salespersons sell things in person, such as at a retail store or dealership. They also commonly sell things over the phone or by communicating with people online. A traveling salesman, though, typically meets with potential customers in person—this is often the whole point of traveling. In the past, it was common for some salesmen to travel door-to-door to make sales to people at home. Some traveling salesmen are door-to-door salesmen, while others may simply visit customers along a specific route. For example, a traveling salesman who sells wholesale food products may visit all of the restaurants within an area. The traveling salesman problem refers to a math problem that involves determining the shortest route through several points. It’s sometimes called the traveling salesperson problem. Example: To be a successful traveling salesman, you have to know the territory and the people in it.

Etymology

Origin of traveling salesman

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80

Example Sentences

His father, Charles Whittaker, was a traveling salesman for a maker of burglar alarms and bank vaults.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

Rowlands and Cassavetes teamed up for the first time in 1955’s “Time for Love,” she playing a humble small-town girl, he a traveling salesman who sweeps her off her feet.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 14, 2024

Set in the future — which looks like a mashup of “The Jetsons” and “Pleasantville,” Crudup plays Jack, a traveling salesman of lunar timeshares.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 13, 2023

Thus, the idea of the traveling salesman Hill swindling the locals into investing in a boys’ marching band, with the intent of skipping town before teaching them a note, held up as well.

From Washington Post • Jun. 29, 2022

Aureliano Segundo was so enthusiastic over the progress of his daughter that from a traveling salesman he bought a six-volume English encyclopedia with many color prints which Meme read in her spare time.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez