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 of marketplace

• 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

As the portal opened in April, but Medved and women’s basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit lamented the lack of official transparency in the transfer marketplace. —Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 8 May 2026

Even Gawker’s star investigative reporter Adrian Chen, whose exposé of the dark web marketplace Silk Road was a huge scoop, could generate laughs. —Frank Digiacomo, HollywoodReporter, 8 May 2026

The online marketplace saw shares tumble about 12%. —Davis Giangiulio,lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 8 May 2026

Congress can fix this by repealing the Jones Act and its distortion of the marketplace. —Katelyn Bledsoe, Boston Herald, 8 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

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

Rhymes for marketplace

• aerospace
• anatase
• anyplace
• commonplace
• cyberspace
• database
• diabase
• diastase
• dnase
• elastase
• fireplace
• hyperspace

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