trade wind
5
3.2
- noun
- /treɪd wɪnd/
- Specialized
:
viento alisio
- The sailboat moved swiftly as the trade winds filled its sails, guiding us along the tropical coast.
Examples
-
Even Hawaii is seeing its rain patterns change as the trade winds have shifted.
Blog text (33) -
But the trade winds will be in our favor all the way.
-
The warm trade wind blew through the open window.
Fiction book (1996) -
The increase in trade winds reduces cloud cover.
Blog text (5) -
They get the trade winds, and when the trade winds blow, usually the weather is clear.
-
Outside, the trade winds kept the morning heat down and the banana trees rustling like rain.
Fiction book (2002) -
Running before the southeast trade winds, the French expedition searched for new lands.
Fiction book (1991) -
The increase in the trade winds has further reduced the small possibility of an El Niño.
Blog text (25) -
During a La Niña event, tropical Pacific trade winds rise above normal levels.
Blog text (5) -
Low on the horizon, puffy white clouds sail in the sky, driven by trade winds, laced with the fragrant scent of tropical flowers.
Fiction book (2002)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Moving air that blows outside and can be strong
5
3.9
The direction the wind blows most often in an area
1
1.8
A wind that blows from the east
1
4.2
A steady current of air that moves across a region
How Strong
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'trade' only as commerce and 'wind' as moving air would not be able to infer the specific meteorological sense 'steady tropical easterly wind' from the constituents. The noun 'trade' in this compound has an archaic/specialized sense unrelated to commerce and the term is lexicalized (many languages use unrelated words like French alizé or Spanish viento alisio), so the meaning is not predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Trade wind comes from old sailors. These steady east-to-west winds helped ships carry goods ('trade'), so sailors called them trade winds, and today the phrase still means that steady wind near the equator that helped trading ships.