trade off

verb

To choose (something) in exchange for something else, where having both at once is not an available option.

“In the entry-level product category, the engineers had to trade off maximal durability for affordable upfront cost.”

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Meanings

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

present singular third person trades off · participle present trading off · participle past traded off · past traded off

  1. transitiveTo choose (something) in exchange for something else, where having both at once is not an available option.

    In the entry-level product category, the engineers had to trade off maximal durability for affordable upfront cost.

  2. intransitiveTo choose among options, where having them all at once is not an available option.

    Part of being a competent engineer is knowing how to trade off appropriately among mutually exclusive options, depending on the specified requirements for each design.

Cite this entry
APA

trade off. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trade%20off

MLA

“trade off.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trade%20off. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trade off,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trade%20off.

Source: trade off on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.