TRADE-OFF

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does trade-off mean? 

• TRADE-OFF (noun)
  The noun TRADE-OFF has 1 sense:

1. an exchange that occurs as a compromise

  Familiarity information: TRADE-OFF used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TRADE-OFF (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An exchange that occurs as a compromise

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

trade-off; tradeoff

Context example:

I faced a tradeoff between eating and buying my medicine

Hypernyms ("trade-off" is a kind of...):

exchange; interchange (the act of changing one thing for another thing)

 Context examples 

But this may involve trade-offs with our social brain.

(“Residual echo” of ancient humans in scans may hold clues to mental disorders, National Institutes of Health)

They found that a trade-off exists between force production and sound suppression.

(Owls' Wings Key to Beating Wind Turbine Noise, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The team analysed deforestation and crop distribution and studied the trade-offs between agricultural benefits, carbon emissions and losses of multiple ecosystem services, which are benefits obtained by people from ecosystems such as forests.

(Most countries lose out with forest-to-farm conversions, SciDev.Net)