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trade

trade

142 3.0
A skilled job that needs hands-on training, for example carpentry
  • noun
  • /treɪd/
translation icon : oficio
  • I've never learned another trade.
  • learn a trade
  • a trade school
  • technical and skilled trades

So here's where in my trade we talk about the law of parsimony.

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Examples

  • You seem to know your trade.

  • David's brother followed their father into the trade after taking a regular education in the Danish public schools.

    Academic text (1999)
  • These are the tools of the trade.

  • I learned a different trade.

  • For a while, she even worked in the building trade, laying floor tiles.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • They say I ought to spend a couple of years as an apprentice or go to a trade school.

  • Stereographers plied their trade in most major cities and many small towns and villages.

    Academic text (1999)
  • She learned the skills of her trade from a master craftsman during her apprenticeship.

  • Many students enroll in trade schools to pursue careers in fields like plumbing and electrical work.

  • The carpenter took great pride in the quality of his work, which reflected his dedication to his trade.

Synonyms

business
vstrade
696 1.3

The work a person does to earn money

focuses on skilled manual work learned through practical training
craft
vstrade
556 3.7

Skilled work done by hand, often as a job

is broader, covering trained manual work including services and repairs
profession
vstrade
229 3.0

A job that needs special training or education, like a doctor

is more practical and manual, learned through hands-on training instead
occupation
vstrade
118 2.7

A job or profession that a person does to earn money

specifies that the job needs practical manual training and skill

Idioms

16 3.9

A job someone does or did, especially if it is not clear from what they do now

Compounds

A pair of tall towers in New York that were destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks

57 3.5

Buying and selling between countries without government taxes or limits

44 3.7

Giving up one thing to get something else when you must choose

trade deficit
  • Specialized
38 4.7

A country buys more from other countries than it sells to them

28 3.2

Government rules about buying and selling goods and services with other countries

An organization in Geneva that sets and enforces rules for trade between countries

17 3.6

Buying, selling, and moving people to force them to work, often from Africa to the Americas

trade secret
  • Specialized
15 3.9

Secret method or recipe a business keeps to stay ahead of other companies

An agreement from 1994 that made trade easier between the United States, Canada, and Mexico

A US agency that keeps business competition fair and protects consumers

12 2.8

A group of workers who protect rights and talk with employers about pay and work conditions

11 3.2

A way of buying and selling that gives better pay and rights to farmers and workers

11 3.0

A regular route used to carry goods between regions or countries

trade surplus
  • Specialized
11 3.5

A country sells more goods to other countries than it buys from them

trade barrier
  • Specialized
9 5.0

A government rule that limits goods from other countries, for example by charging extra tax or setting limits

8 3.0

A school where people learn practical skills like carpentry or plumbing

trade embargo
  • Formal
7 5.9

An official government order stopping trade with a country or some goods

5 3.2

An item you give to lower the price of something new like a car or phone

trade wind
  • Specialized
5 3.2

A steady wind that blows east to west near the equator in tropical regions

5 5.3

A proposed law to control trade between countries

An area in Lower Manhattan where the World Trade Center stood before 2001, now a rebuilt complex with memorials

trade balance
  • Specialized
4 3.9

The difference in value between a country's exports and imports of goods

A magazine for people who work in a certain industry that gives news and advice

2 2.9

A name a company gives to a product or service to sell it

2 3.0

A product or raw material sold in large amounts to other businesses

balance of trade
  • Specialized
2 4.4

The difference in value of goods a country sells and buys from other countries over time

An international agreement from 1947 to reduce taxes on imports and other trade barriers

1 3.8

The difference between the value of a country's imports and exports over a time period

A person who helps workers get better pay and safer jobs

A path from long ago for carrying goods between places

restraint of trade
  • Specialized
1 7.0

A rule or action that stops free competition between businesses

1 3.6

The idea and practice of workers forming groups to protect rights at work

The skills and tools someone needs for their job

carriage trade
  • Archaic
1 9.1

Rich customers who buy expensive goods, or the business that sells to them

1 4.9

A business that makes and sells fashionable clothes

trade book
  • Jargon
1 3.8

A book written and sold for the general public to read

Laws that put taxes or limits on imports to help local businesses against foreign competition

An organized effort by workers to improve pay and working conditions

A government official and office that makes and negotiates trade rules for the United States with other countries

7.1

The energy used by a 1,000-watt machine running for one hour

A person who cooks food for a living, usually in a restaurant

An agreement between companies that limits competition, often by fixing prices, and is illegal under US law

7.8

Former US law that let manufacturers require shops to sell goods at a minimum price

fair-trade agreement
  • Specialized
5.7

A deal where a maker tells stores not to sell a branded product below a fixed price

A swap of horses between people who bargain for the best deal

Equipment or skills needed to do a person's job

5.4

A pattern of rises and falls in the economy, like growth and recession

trade discount
  • Specialized
3.1

A reduction in the price shown given to a shop for buying large amounts of goods

trade edition
  • Jargon
4.0

A book sold to the public in regular bookstores

trade acceptance
  • Specialized
8.0

A written promise by a buyer to pay the seller on a set date

trade expense
  • Specialized
3.4

A cost a business has when running its normal work, like travel to meet clients

9.1

A small animal with a bushy tail that collects and hides small things

trade-last
  • Informal
9.9

A compliment you give in return for a compliment you received

7.0

An official government order that stops or limits trade between countries

A United States government office that makes and carries out the President's trade policy with other countries

How Skilled

craftsperson
1 3.9
trade
142 3.0

Surface Forms

trade singular
trades plural

Etymology

Trade comes from an old word meaning 'path' or 'way', related to tread 'to step'. A person's trade is the 'path' they follow in work, so it became the name for a skill or job.