carriage trade

noun

: trade from well-to-do or upper-class people
also : well-to-do people

Examples of carriage trade in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Both industrialized what had previously been cottage industries—in Ford’s case, the artisanal carriage trade; in Seabrook’s, market gardening. John Seabrook june 11, Literary Hub, 11 June 2025 Once the sale of the North Avenue Market complex was official a few weeks ago, a new arts partnership began envisioning a future for this 1928 landmark where Baltimore’s carriage trade once did their food shopping. Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun, 23 Mar. 2024 As the carriage trade swaps horses for horsepower, Gucci shifts focus from saddlery to luxury goods, marking the modern incarnation of the company. Vogue, 24 Nov. 2021 The 11-story neo-Renaissance palazzo, right next to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and across Fifth Avenue from Rockefeller Center, remains a stalwart purveyor of luxury fashion to New York’s carriage trade after nearly a century. Joshua Levine, WSJ, 15 Jan. 2019 And over the years, several have come from the carriage trade, including the one in New York City. Dan Rodricks, baltimoresun.com, 9 Sep. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1929, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of carriage trade was in 1929

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Carriage trade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carriage%20trade. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on carriage trade

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!