SALE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sale mean? 

• SALE (noun)
  The noun SALE has 5 senses:

1. a particular instance of selling

2. the general activity of selling

3. an occasion (usually brief) for buying at specially reduced prices

4. the state of being purchasable; offered or exhibited for selling

5. an agreement (or contract) in which property is transferred from the seller (vendor) to the buyer (vendee) for a fixed price in money (paid or agreed to be paid by the buyer)

  Familiarity information: SALE used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SALE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A particular instance of selling

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

they had to complete the sale before the banks closed

Hypernyms ("sale" is a kind of...):

marketing; merchandising; selling (the exchange of goods for an agreed sum of money)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sale"):

divestiture (the sale by a company of a product line or a subsidiary or a division)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The general activity of selling

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

laws limit the sale of handguns

Hypernyms ("sale" is a kind of...):

marketing; merchandising; selling (the exchange of goods for an agreed sum of money)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sale"):

auction; auction sale; vendue (the public sale of something to the highest bidder)

sell (the activity of persuading someone to buy)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An occasion (usually brief) for buying at specially reduced prices

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

cut-rate sale; sale; sales event

Context example:

I got some great bargains at their annual sale

Hypernyms ("sale" is a kind of...):

occasion (an opportunity to do something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sale"):

fire sale (a sale of assets at very low prices typically when the seller faces bankruptcy)

white sale (a sale of household linens)

selloff (a sale of a relatively large number of assets (stocks or bonds or commodities) at a low price typically done to dispose of them rather than as normal trade)

jumble sale; rummage sale (a sale of donated articles)

realisation; realization (a sale in order to obtain money (as a sale of stock or a sale of the estate of a bankrupt person) or the money so obtained)

going-out-of-business sale (a sale of all the tangible assets of a business that is about to close)

garage sale; yard sale (an outdoor sale of used personal or household items held on the seller's premises)

fire sale (a sale of merchandise supposedly damaged by fire)

closeout (a sale intended to dispose of all remaining stock)

clearance sale; inventory-clearance sale (a sale to reduce inventory)

boot sale; car boot sale (an outdoor sale at which people sell things from the trunk of their car)

bazaar; fair (a sale of miscellany; often for charity)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The state of being purchasable; offered or exhibited for selling

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

the new line of cars will soon be on sale

Hypernyms ("sale" is a kind of...):

merchantability (the state of being fit for market; ready to be bought or sold)

Sense 5

Meaning:

An agreement (or contract) in which property is transferred from the seller (vendor) to the buyer (vendee) for a fixed price in money (paid or agreed to be paid by the buyer)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

sale; sales agreement

Context example:

the salesman faxed the sales agreement to his home office

Hypernyms ("sale" is a kind of...):

agreement; understanding (the statement (oral or written) of an exchange of promises)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sale"):

conditional sale (a sale in which the buyer receives title to the property only upon the performance of some condition (usually the full payment of the purchase price))

execution sale; forced sale; judicial sale; sheriff's sale (a sale of property by the sheriff under authority of a court's writ of execution in order satisfy an unpaid obligation)

 Context examples 

By 2012, sales had jumped to roughly 476 million tons.

(Pesticides blamed for rise in colon cancer deaths, SciDev.Net)

A further nine products were taken off the shelf after the suppliers chose to withdraw local sales rather than provide information to the TGA.

(Numerous home pregnancy tests recalled after false negative results reported, Wikinews)

There are places in town, offices, where inquiry would soon produce something—Offices for the sale—not quite of human flesh—but of human intellect.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

I daresay they might get a peep at that sales book if they wanted to.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If you work in sales, your commission structure might change—now or in the coming years.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The fortunate sale of several storiettes, some humorous verse, and a few jokes gave Martin a temporary splurge of prosperity.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Samsung announced earlier in the day that it was stopping all global sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7, and advised all customers to stop using the device immediately.

(Samsung Ends Production of Problem-Plagued Galaxy Note 7, Voanews)

EXAMPLE(S): safety, sales, financial, manufacturing, Review Board contact

(Organizational Contact Type Code, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

The U.S. Orphan Drug Act (1983) encourages development of these therapeutics by tax breaks and a seven-year monopoly on drug sales.

(Orphan Drug, NCI Thesaurus)

There may be some difficulty, but I should think that the sale of the jewellery should be sufficient.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)