Definition

1. Noun:

   • A physical place for buying and selling goods: A specific location, often in a town or city, where people gather to sell and purchase items, especially food and other daily necessities.
   • The trade or business in a particular commodity: The activity of buying and selling a specific type of good or service.
   • The entire arena of commercial activity: The system or environment in which goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed, often governed by supply and demand.
   • The potential customers for a product or service: The group of people or organizations who might want to buy something.

2. Verb:

   • To offer for sale: To present and sell goods or services in a commercial setting.
   • To shop for goods, especially groceries: To go to a place to buy household supplies.
   • To promote and sell a product: To engage in the business activities involved in making a product or service known and available for purchase.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • The farmers bring their fresh produce to the market every Saturday morning.
  • The housing market has been very active this year.
  • Companies must understand their target market to succeed.
  • New regulations have changed the entire market for renewable energy.

• Verb:

  • They market their handmade jewelry online and at local craft fairs.
  • We need to market for vegetables and fruit for the week.
  • The team is developing a new strategy to market the software to large businesses.

Advanced Usage

• "To be in the market for something": To be interested in buying something.
  • I am in the market for a reliable used car.
• "To play the market": To speculate by buying and selling securities (like stocks).
  • He made a fortune playing the market, but it's very risky.
• "To corner the market": To gain control over the supply of a particular commodity.
  • The company tried to corner the market on rare earth minerals.

Variants and Related Words

• Marketable (adj): Able to be sold; attractive to buyers or employers.
  • Her skills in digital design are highly marketable.
• Marketing (n): The action or business of promoting and selling products or services.
  • She works in the marketing department.
• Marketplace (n): An open area where a market is held; the commercial world of competition.
  • The app must succeed in a crowded digital marketplace.

Synonyms

• Bazaar (n): A market, especially in the Middle East.
• Mart (n): A trading center; a market.
• Commerce (n): The activity of buying and selling, especially on a large scale.
• Clientèle (n): The customers of a shop, restaurant, etc.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Market to: To direct promotional efforts toward a specific group.
  • The toy company markets primarily to children and their parents.

Related Idioms

• A buyer's market: A situation in which goods are plentiful and buyers have the advantage.
  • With so many houses for sale, it's definitely a buyer's market.
• A seller's market: A situation in which goods are scarce and sellers have the advantage.
  • During the shortage, it was a seller's market for building materials.
• On the market: Available for sale.
  • Their house has been on the market for six months.

Noun

1. an area in a town where a public mercantile establishment is set up
2. the securities markets in the aggregate
   • the market always frustrates the small investor
3. a marketplace where groceries are sold
   • the grocery store included a meat market
4. the customers for a particular product or service
   • before they publish any book they try to determine the size of the market for it
5. the world of commercial activity where goods and services are bought and sold
   • without competition there would be no market
   • they were driven from the marketplace

Verb

1. make commercial
   • Some Amish people have commercialized their way of life
2. deal in a market
3. buy household supplies
   • We go marketing every Saturday
4. engage in the commercial promotion, sale, or distribution of
   • The company is marketing its new line of beauty products