Meanings
- pluralplural of trade
- abbreviationellipsispluralplural onlyEllipsis of building and manufacturing trades (“the vocations of skilled blue-collar workers; the workforce in these vocations”).
Holonym: technology
3 more examples
Meronyms: (people) tradespersons, tradesmen, trade unions; (component vocations) see list of trades
Near-synonym: industrial arts
He decided to go into the trades because in the 21st century it seemed like a safer career move, in terms of wage rates, than becoming just another mediocre college graduate among a sea thereof.
Synonyms: industrial arts
- abbreviationellipsispluralplural onlyEllipsis of trade publications (“publications within an industry or group of related industries, reporting industry-related news and editorials (and usually also advertising) to people in those vocations (workers and managers)”).
Rumors about layoffs are all over the trades.
1 more example
Meronyms: trade papers, trade journals, trade magazines
- abbreviationellipsispluralplural onlyEllipsis of trade winds (“steady winds blowing from east to west above and below the equator”).
They rode the trades going west.
- indicativepresentsingularthird personthird-person singular simple present indicative of trade
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*dreh₂-
- Proto-Germanic*tradō
- Proto-West Germanic*trudo
- Old Saxontrada
- Middle Low Germantrade
- Middle Englishtrade
- Englishtrade
- Englishtrades
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with trades
All rhymes →Cite this entry
trades. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trades
“trades.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trades. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trades,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trades.
Source: trades on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.