trades

noun

1. (form-of, plural)plural of trade
2. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, plural, plural-only)Ellipsis of building and manufacturing trades (“the vocations of skilled blue-collar workers; the workforce in these vocations”).

   “Holonym: technology”

   “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.”

3. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, plural, plural-only)Ellipsis 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)”).

   “Meronyms: trade papers, trade journals, trade magazines”

   “Rumors about layoffs are all over the trades.”

4. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, plural, plural-only)Ellipsis of trade winds (“steady winds blowing from east to west above and below the equator”).

   “They rode the trades going west.”

verb

1. (form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person)third-person singular simple present indicative of trade