barter

verb

bar·ter | \ ˈbär-tər

bartered; bartering; barters

Definition of barter

(Entry 1 of 2)

: to trade by exchanging one commodity for another : to trade goods or services in exchange for other goods or services farmers bartering for supplies with their crops bartered with the store's owner

transitive verb

: to trade or exchange by or as if by bartering bartering work for food

barter

noun

Definition of barter (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : the act or practice of trading goods or services for other goods or services : the act or practice of carrying on trade by bartering

2 : goods or services that are traded for other goods or services : the thing given in exchange in bartering

Other Words from barter Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More About barter

Examples of barter in a Sentence

Noun The tribes use a system of barter. The explorers used blankets and other supplies for barter to get food from the native people.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Recently, Russian and US officials agreed that Roscosmos and NASA would barter seats for future flights, with NASA astronauts riding on the Soyuz in exchange for Russians launching on Crew Dragon as early as this fall. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 23 Feb. 2022 If teams don't budget appropriately during the race, they aren't allowed to beg for money, but they are allowed to barter! — Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE.com, 18 Jan. 2022 The act of being consistent demands you to use self-talk and negotiate and barter with yourself to keep yourself on track. — Rittu Sinha, Forbes, 10 Nov. 2021 New Orleans will beg and barter their last dollar to keep the Saints. — Christopher Dodson, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2021 Plastic is the new currency, and pluckers barter their daily catch for necessities. — Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2021 For women, that means toiling as nude dancers, entertaining men who have gathered from miles around to barter their scrap for homemade alcohol and gawking privileges. — Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2021 In a filing as recently as August 30, Rosengart accused Jamie of attempting to extort or barter his removal as her conservator for $2 million in payments. — Claudia Rosenbaum, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2021 Britney Spears’s lawyer has filed court papers accusing the singer’s father of attempting to extort or barter his removal as her conservator for $2 million in payments. — Claudia Rosenbaum, Vulture, 1 Sep. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun During the near-total economic implosion in the 1990s, Russians grew their own food, routinely used pirated versions of software and movies, and fell back on barter, family, and community networks to survive. — Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 May 2022 And, if your community is anything like mine, there’s a vibrant barter economy. — Washington Post, 22 Apr. 2022 India and Pakistan have also been linked in the past to possible barter trade deals, typically swapping Iranian oil for consumer or agricultural products. — Dominic Dudley, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2021 During the strict 11-week lockdown that began in March, the majority of the 30,000 residents entered into a barter system. — Jamie Lafferty, Outside Online, 20 Mar. 2021 Neighbors resorted to a barter system to exchange, say, a cabbage for a bottle of soy sauce. — New York Times, 13 Apr. 2022 That’s one reason the IRS has gone after the barter community to tax goods and services that are exchanged. — Robert W. Wood, Forbes, 23 June 2021 Discussions about potential barter deals tend to rise when Iran is feeling under pressure on the international stage. — Dominic Dudley, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2021 This barter system benefits the environment and empowers the local people. — CNN, 29 Oct. 2021 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'barter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.