marketplace

noun

mar·​ket·​place ˈmär-kət-ˌplās 

1

a

: an open square or place in a town where markets or public sales are held

b

: market

the marketplace is the interpreter of supply and demand

2

: the world of trade or economic activity : the everyday world

3

: a sphere in which intangible values compete for acceptance

the marketplace of ideas

Synonyms

• business
• commerce
• trade
• traffic

Examples of marketplace in a Sentence

Their products must compete in the marketplace.

The company has struggled to survive in a rapidly changing marketplace.

Recent Examples on the Web

And now — like it or not — scrutiny will come not in the form of a column, but rather in the free agent marketplace. —Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 19 Apr. 2024

Since coming out of the writers strike late last year, the TV marketplace has been considerably slower as streamers and linear networks alike thin their rosters in an effort to right-size their programming rosters and reduce costs. —Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

marketplace

noun

mar·​ket·​place ˈmär-kət-ˌplās 

1

: an open square or place in a town where markets are held

2

: the world of trade

Legal Definition

marketplace

noun

mar·​ket·​place ˈmär-kət-ˌplās 

: the economic system through which different companies compete with each other to sell their products