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trade

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To trade is to exchange something such as items or services, to buy or sell items or to buy or sell stocks. (verb)

An example of trade is when you give your friend your peanut butter sandwich in exchange for his tuna sandwich.
An example of trade is when you give a greeting to your friend and get greeted in return.
An example of trade is when you buy shares of a company stock.

Trade describes the general marketplace of buying and selling goods, the way you make a living or the act of exchanging or buying and selling something. (noun)

An example of trade is the tea trade where tea is imported from China and purchased in the US.
An example of trade is when you work in sales.
An example of trade is the act of exchanging one item for another or one item for money.

See trade in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

Obsolete
1. a track; path
2. a course; regular procedure
1. a means of earning one's living; occupation, work, or line of business
2. an occupation requiring skill in any of certain kinds of work done with the hands, as distinguished from unskilled work or from a profession or business; craft
3. all the persons or companies in a particular line of business or work
the buying and selling of commodities or the bartering of goods; commerce
dealings or the market involving specified commodities, customers, seasons, etc.: the tourist trade, the Easter trade
customers; clientele
a purchase or sale; deal; bargain
an exchange; swap
the trade winds

adjective

of or relating to trade or commerce
of, by, or for those in a particular business or industry: trade papers or journals
of the members in the trades, or crafts: trade unions

intransitive verb traded, trading

to carry on a trade or business
to have business dealings (with someone)
to make an exchange (with someone)
Informal to be a customer (at a specified store or shop)

transitive verb

to exchange; barter; swap
to buy and sell (stocks, etc.)

Related Forms:

tradable adjective or tradeable

See trade in American Heritage Dictionary 4

(trād)

noun

The business of buying and selling commodities; commerce. See Synonyms at business.
The people working in or associated with a business or industry: a textile-exporting publication for the trade.
The customers of a specified business or industry; clientele.
The act or an instance of buying or selling; transaction.
An exchange of one thing for another.
An occupation, especially one requiring skilled labor; craft: the building trades, including carpentry, masonry, plumbing, and electrical installation.
The trade winds. Often used in the plural with the.

verb trad·ed, trad·ing, trades trades

verb, intransitive

To engage in buying and selling for profit.
To make an exchange of one thing for another.
To be offered for sale: Stocks traded at lower prices this morning.
To shop or buy regularly: trades at the local supermarket.

verb, transitive

To give in exchange for something else: trade farm products for manufactured goods; will trade my ticket for yours.
To buy and sell (stock, for example).
To pass back and forth: We traded jokes.

adjective

Of or relating to trade or commerce.
Relating to, used by, or serving a particular trade: a trade magazine.
Of or relating to books that are primarily published to be sold commercially, as in bookstores.

Phrasal Verbs: trade down To trade something in for something else of lower value or price: bought a new, smaller car, trading the old one down for economy. trade in To surrender or sell (an old or used item), using the proceeds as partial payment on a new purchase. trade on To put to calculated and often unscrupulous advantage; exploit: children of celebrities who trade on their family names. trade up To trade something in for something else of greater value or price: The value of our house soared, enabling us to trade up to a larger place.

Related Forms:

tradˈa·ble, tradeˈa·ble adjective

See trade in Ologies

Trade

cabotage

the act of navigating or trading along a coast.

chreotechnics

Rare. useful arts, as agriculture, commerce, and manufacturing.

coemption

Obsolete, the purchase of all of a given commodity in order to control its price. —coemptive, adj.

duopoly

the market condition that exists when there are only two sellers. —duopolist, n. —duopolistic, adj.

duopsony

the market condition that exists when there are only two buyers. —duopsonistic, adj.

emption

1. Rare. the act of purchasing.

2. Obsolete, the thing purchased. —emptional, adj.

emptor

Law. abuyer.

merchantry

1. merchants collectively.

2. the business of commerce or trade.

monopolism

the practices and system of a monopoly. —monopolist, n. —monopolistic, adj.

monopoly

an exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control that makes possible the manipulation of prices. —monopolist, n. —monopolistic, adj.

monopsony

the market condition that exists when only one buyer will purchase the products of a number of sellers. —monopsonist, n. —monopsonistic, adj.

multiopoly

the condition of free enterprise, without restriction as to the number of sellers of a given product.

multiopsony

a market condition where no restriction on the number of buyers exists. —multiopsonist, n. —multiopsonistic, adj.

oligopoly

the market condition that exists when there are few sellers. —oligopolistic, adj.

oligopsony

a market condition in which there are few buyers. —oligopsonist, n. —oligopsonistic, adj.

paternalism

fatherlike control over subordinates or employees in business. —paternalist, n. —paternalistic, adj.