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

• 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

The Big Beautiful Bill is expected to cause another 1.9 million Texans to go without insurance because of the changes in the Affordable Care Act subsidies to the marketplace and changes to Medicaid that will make renewal more difficult. —Nicole Villalpando, Austin American Statesman, 29 July 2025

Access to a universe of tokens, bustling marketplaces and chatbots is becoming a native part of how people communicate and manage their digital lives. —Alexander Sudeykin, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025

One of which stated that the federal government shouldn't play a role in regulating AI models in the private marketplace. —EW.com, 25 July 2025

London resale e-commerce marketplace Depop has named Peter Semple as chief executive officer, effective Aug. 1, following his successful tenure as interim CEO. —Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 25 July 2025

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