Definition

1. Verb:

   • To send goods or services to another country for sale or trade: The primary meaning, referring to the commercial activity of selling domestic products abroad.
   • To transmit or introduce an idea, system, or culture to another place: To cause something abstract (like a concept or practice) to spread to another country or region.
   • To transfer data from one computer system or program to another, typically in a compatible format: A technical meaning in computing, involving the extraction and conversion of data for use elsewhere.

2. Noun:

   • A product or service sold to a foreign country: The item or commodity that is exported.
   • The act or business of exporting goods and services: The process or industry of sending goods abroad for sale.

Usage Examples

• Verb:

  • The country plans to export more agricultural products next year.
  • The software allows you to export the report as a PDF file.
  • Ancient Rome exported its legal principles throughout its empire.

• Noun:

  • Coffee is the nation's main export.
  • The new trade agreement boosted exports by 15%.

Advanced Usage

• "Export-oriented": An adjective describing an economy, industry, or company focused primarily on producing goods for foreign markets.

  • The country has an export-oriented manufacturing sector.

• "Export controls": Government regulations that restrict or monitor the export of certain goods, especially sensitive technologies or military items.

  • The company must comply with strict export controls for its software.

• "Invisible export": Refers to the export of services (e.g., banking, tourism) rather than physical goods.

  • Financial services are a major invisible export for the country.

Variants and Related Words

• Exporter (n): A person, company, or country that sends goods or services to another country.

  • She is a leading exporter of organic tea.

• Exportation (n): The formal act or process of exporting.

  • The exportation of cultural artifacts is heavily regulated.

• Exportable (adj): Suitable or available for export.

  • The product's lightweight design makes it highly exportable.

Synonyms

• Ship out: To send goods away, especially abroad.
• Trade: To buy and sell goods and services (a broader term that includes export).
• Transmit: To pass or spread something (used for abstract things like ideas).

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Export to: The standard construction for specifying the destination.
  • The firm exports machinery to over thirty countries.

Related Idioms

• Export one's problems: (Figurative) To cause a domestic issue to affect another country, often by offloading a difficult situation.
  • Critics accused the government of trying to export its unemployment problems through aggressive foreign labor policies.

Noun

1. commodities (goods or services) sold to a foreign country

Verb

1. cause to spread in another part of the world
   • The Russians exported Marxism to Africa
2. transfer (electronic data) out of a database or document in a format that can be used by other programs
3. sell or transfer abroad
   • we export less than we import and have a negative trade balance