trade

/tɹeɪd/

trade noun: the buying and selling of goods and services on a market. Also the abbreviation of trade paperback.

Noun

trade (countable and uncountable, plural trades)

(uncountable) The buying and selling of goods and services on a market.

Synonyms:

commerce
(countable) A particular instance of buying or selling, or a series of related transactions executed as a single investment.
- I did no trades with them once the rumors started.
Synonyms:

deal, barter
(countable) An idea or strategy for an investment on a market.
- "Sell America" is the latest trade on Wall Street.
(countable) An instance of bartering items in exchange for one another.
- EXCHANGE — A trade or swap of no material profit to either side.1989, Bruce Pandolfini, Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps, →ISBN, Glossary, page 225
- When Golden State matched the Knicks' offer sheet, the Warriors and Knicks worked out a trade that sent King to New York for Richardson.2009, Elliott Kalb, Mark Weinstein, The 30 Greatest Sports Conspiracy Theories of All Time, →ISBN, page 60
(countable) Those who perform a particular kind of skilled work.
- The skilled trades were the first to organize modern labor unions.
- But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries. By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal.2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion
Synonyms:

business
(countable) Those engaged in an industry or group of related industries.
- It is not a retail showroom. It is only for the trade.
(countable) The skilled practice of a practical occupation.
- He learned his trade as an apprentice.
- In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade1969, Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, Bridge over Troubled Water, Columbia Records
Synonyms:

craft
An occupation in the secondary sector, as opposed to an agricultural, professional or military one.
- After failing his entrance exams, he decided to go into a trade.
- Most veterans went into trade when the war ended.
(UK, uncountable) The business given to a commercial establishment by its customers.
- Even before noon there was considerable trade.
- Trade has been down in this cold weather.
Synonyms:

business, takings, custom, footfall, patronage
(in plural) Steady winds blowing from east to west above and below the equator.
- They rode the trades going west.
- Calms and variable winds, are also experienced during every month of the year, in the space between the trades;[…] the vicinity of the north-east trade seems most liable to them.1826 [1816], James Horsburgh, India Directory, Or Directions for Sailing to and from the East Indies, China, New Holland, Cape of Good Hope, Brazil and the Interjacent Ports, page 28
A publication intended for participants in an industry or related group of industries.
- Rumors about layoffs are all over the trades.
(slang, uncountable) A masculine man available for casual sex with men, often for pay. (Compare rough trade.)
- Not you tryna impress plumber trade.
- Josh picked up some trade last night.

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(obsolete, uncountable) Instruments of any occupation.
- His House and household Gods! his trade of War, / His Bow and Quiver; and his trusty Cur.1697, John Dryden, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in The works of Virgil containing his Pastorals, Georgics and Aeneis, page 112
Refuse or rubbish from a mine.
(obsolete) A track or trail; a way; a path; passage.
- A postern with a blind wicket there was, / A common trade to pass through Priam's house1557, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, The Second Book of Virgil's Æneid
- As Shepheardes curre, that in darke eveninges shade / Hath tracted forth some salvage beastes trade1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book II
(obsolete) A course; a custom; a practice; an occupation.
- The Jewes, emong whom alone and no moe, God hitherto semed for to reigne, by reason of their knowledge of the law, and of the autoritee of being in the right trade of religion.1545, Nicholas Udall, Paraphrase on Luke, translation of original by Desiderius Erasmus
- There those five sisters had continual trade / And used to bathe themselves in that deceitful shade.1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book II

Verb

trade (third-person singular simple present trades, present participle trading, simple past and past participle traded)

(ambitransitive) To engage in trade.
- This company trades (in) precious metal.
- He withdrew money to his bank account after several years of trading stocks on E-Trade.
Synonyms:

deal
(copulative, intransitive) To be traded at a certain price or under certain conditions.
- Apple is trading at $200.
- ExxonMobil trades on the NYSE.
(transitive) To give (something) in exchange (for).
- Will you trade your precious watch for my earring?
Synonyms:

exchange, swap, switch, truck
(transitive) To mutually exchange (something) (with).
- The rival schoolboys traded insults and punches.
- The [Halo effect] strikes our combined fleets. All ships piloted by biologicals are now [adrift]. I can trade Mendicant ship for ship now and still prevail.2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: Terminal Six (Legendary)
(transitive, with-on) To use or exploit a particular aspect, such as a name, reputation, or image, to gain advantage or benefit.
- Some musicians try to trade on their past success by playing the same hits over and over again.
Synonyms:

exploit, capitalize on, take advantage of, use, leverage, benefit from, make use of, milk
(intransitive, transitive) To give someone a plant and receive a different one in return.
(ambitransitive) To do business; offer for sale as for one's livelihood.

Synonyms:

do business
(intransitive) To have dealings; to be concerned or associated (with).
- Saucy and over bold, how did you dare / To trade and traffic with Macbethc. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
(transitive) To recommend and get recommendations.

Synonyms:

exchange

Adjective

trade (not comparable)

Of a product, produced for sale in the ordinary bulk retail trade and hence of only the most basic quality.
- "It is monstrous - grotesque." "But what made him draw such an animal?" "Trade gin, I should think."1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC

Also used as

trade is also the abbreviation of trade paperback.

trade meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

trade in Hindi

buying and selling: व्यापार vyāpār, व्यवसाय vyavsāy, वाणिज्य vāṇijya, पणन paṇan
instance of buying or selling: व्यापार vyāpār, व्यवसाय vyavsāy, वाणिज्य vāṇijya, पणन paṇan

trade in Tamil

buying and selling: வணிகம் vaṇikam

trade in Marathi

buying and selling: वाणिज्य vāṇijya

trade in Urdu

buying and selling: تِجارَت tijārat, سَودا saudā

More languagesFewer languages

trade in Bengali: বাণিজ্য banijjo, তেজারত tejarot, সওদা śoōda
trade in Telugu: వర్తకము vartakamu, వాణిజ్యము vāṇijyamu
trade in Malayalam: വ്യാപാരം vyāpāraṁ
trade in Kannada: ವಾಣಿಜ್ಯ vāṇijya
trade in Gujarati: વ્યાપાર vyāpār
trade in Sanskrit: वाणिज्य vāṇijya
trade in Sinhala: වෙළෙඳාම weḷeⁿdāma
trade in Assamese: বেহাবেপাৰ behabepar, বেপাৰ bepar, বেহা beha
trade in Pashto: تجارت tejārát, سودا sawdā
trade in Tagalog: baliwasan, kalakalan
trade in Arabic: تِجَارَة tijāra
trade in Malay: perdagangan
trade in Indonesian: perdagangan, berdagang
trade in Thai: พาณิชย์ paa-nít, ธุรกิจ tú-rá-gìt, การค้า gaan-káa
trade in Vietnamese: sự buôn bán, thương mại, thương nghiệp
trade in Myanmar: အရောင်းအဝယ် a.raung:a.wai, ဝါဏိဇ္ဇ wanijja., ကုန်သွယ်ရေး kunswaire:

Examples of trade in a sentence

The gift shop relies on passing trade from tourists.
Subsequently some Scottish troops settled, took up trade as weavers, tailors, or mariners, and married Dutch women.2007, Michael Lynch, The Oxford Companion to Scottish History, USA: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 228:
Getting a job in your major is no breeze: Remember we made fun of those who took up a trade2012, Liberty Carrington, Wide Eyes Closed, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 92:
Or, I'll be buried in the king's highway, / Some way of common trade, where subjects' feet / May hourly trample on their sovereign's head.c. 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II, act III, scene iii:
Long did I love this lady, / Long was my travel, long my trade to win her.1655, Philip Massinger, John Fletcher, A Very Woman:

All 40 example sentences with trade

Synonyms of trade

15 more synonymsFewer synonyms

swap
switch
truck
exploit
capitalize on
take advantage of
use
leverage
benefit from
make use of
milk
do business
merchandise
traffic
wrixle

All synonyms of trade

Forms of trade

Noun
plural	trades
Verb
third-person singular present	trades
present participle	trading
past participle	traded
past	traded

Past tense of trade: traded

Plural of trade: trades

Origin of trade

From Middle English trade (“path, course of conduct”), introduced into English by Hanseatic merchants, from Middle Low German trade (“track, course”), from Old Saxon trada (“spoor, track”), from Proto-West Germanic *tradu, from Proto-Germanic *tradō (“track, way”), and cognate with Old English tredan (“to tread”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dreh₂- (“to tread, walk, step, run”). Cognate with Dutch trade, tra (“path, trail, course, trade”), German Low German Traad (“track, wagon trail”), Luxembourgish Tratt (“step, pace”), Icelandic tröð (“a lane between fences, enclosure, pen”).

Words formed from trade

Phrases with trade

140 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with trade

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about trade

What does trade mean?: Trade means the buying and selling of goods and services on a market.
What is trade in Hindi?: Trade in Hindi is व्यापार (vyāpār), व्यवसाय (vyavsāy), वाणिज्य (vāṇijya). See Trade meaning in Hindi.
How do you use trade in a sentence?: The gift shop relies on passing trade from tourists.
What part of speech is trade?: Trade can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
How do you pronounce trade?: Trade is pronounced /tɹeɪd/ (UK).
What is the plural of trade?: The plural of trade is trades.

Words near trade in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: trade (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-trade.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-trade.wav.

Cite this entry: “trade.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/trade. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.