trade

Etymology

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-Germanic *tradō (“track, way”), and cognate with Old English tredan (“to tread”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dreh₂- (“to tread, walk, step, run”).

noun

1. (uncountable) Buying and selling of goods and services on a market.
2. (countable) A particular instance of buying or selling.
   I did no trades with them once the rumors started.
3. (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, 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, page 60
4. (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
5. (countable) Those engaged in an industry or group of related industries.
   It is not a retail showroom. It is only for the trade.
6. (countable) The skilled practice of a practical occupation.
   In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade 1969, Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, Bridge over Troubled Water, Columbia Records
   He learned his trade as an apprentice.
7. (countable or uncountable) 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.
   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, page 228
   Getting a job in your major is no breeze: Remember we made fun of those who took up a trade 2012, Liberty Carrington, Wide Eyes Closed, AuthorHouse, page 92
8. (uncountable, UK) The business given to a commercial establishment by its customers.
   Even before noon there was considerable trade.
9. (chiefly in the 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
10. (only as plural) A publication intended for participants in an industry or related group of industries.
    Rumors about layoffs are all over the trades.
11. (uncountable, gay slang) A masculine man available for casual sex with men, often for pay. (Compare rough trade.)
    In a homosexual of this kind—corresponding to the test of eccentric behavior in the drawing-room—one usually finds a preference for "trade," i.e., sexually normal males, because, if another homosexual yields to him, he is only one of a class, but if he can believe that an exception is being made in his case, it seems a proof that he is being accepted for himself alone. 1950, W. H. Auden, “A Playboy of the Western World: St. Oscar, The Homintern Martyr”, in Partisan Review, pages 391–2
    Josh picked up some trade last night.
12. (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
13. (mining) Refuse or rubbish from a mine.
14. (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 house 1557, 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 trade 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book II
    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
15. (obsolete) Course; custom; practice; 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
    Long did I love this lady, / Long was my travel, long my trade to win her. 1655, Philip Massinger, John Fletcher, A Very Woman

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To engage in trade.
   This company trades (in) precious metal.
   […]a free port, where Nations warring with one another resorted with their Goods, and traded as in a neutral Country. 1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures, page 248
2. (finance, intransitive, copulative) To be traded at a certain price or under certain conditions.
   Apple is trading at $200.
   ExxonMobil trades on the NYSE.
   The stock is trading rich relative to its sector.
3. (transitive, with for) To give (something) in exchange (for).
   Will you trade your precious watch for my earring?
4. (transitive) To mutually exchange (something) (with).
   The rival schoolboys traded insults.
   Kalinin Bay is also in trouble, trading fire with Japanese destroyers and taking hits from both them and cruisers at the same time. Unlike the Gambier Bay, however, it does not appear that these ships have realized they need to switch to high explosive from armor-piercing, and, despite being riddled with shellfire, the ship stays afloat, despite this rather-unequal battering going on for another twenty to thirty minutes. 27 February 2019, Drachinifel, 29:08 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 2022-11-03
5. (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.
6. (horticulture, transitive or intransitive) To give someone a plant and receive a different one in return.
7. (transitive, intransitive) To do business; offer for sale as for one's livelihood.
8. (intransitive) To have dealings; to be concerned or associated (with).
9. (transitive) To recommend and get recommendations.

adj

1. Of a product, produced for sale in the ordinary bulk retail trade and hence of only the most basic quality.