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TAKE THE QUIZoften attributive
1
: a valuable return : gain
2
: the excess of returns over expenditure in a transaction or series of transactions
especially
: the excess of the selling price of goods over their cost
3
: net income usually for a given period of time
4
: the ratio of profit for a given year to the amount of capital invested or to the value of sales
5
: the compensation accruing to entrepreneurs for the assumption of risk in business enterprise as distinguished from wages or rent
profited; profiting; profits
: to be of service to : benefit
Synonyms
Example Sentences
Noun
The company made a profit this year.
Profits are up from last year.
There was a rise in profits this year.
The profits from CD sales were donated to charity.
The organization is not run for profit.
The film made $1,000,000 in profit.
The book can be read with profit by anyone who wants to understand how the system works.
Verb
It would profit him to take some computer classes.
The company has profited by selling its products online.
He profited greatly from his investments.
The island profits from tourism.
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Recent Examples on the Web
Tom Murphy, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Feb. 2023
The ride-hailing company reported higher revenue and adjusted profit.
—WSJ, 8 Feb. 2023
Adjusted profit for the year will be $8.70 to $8.90 a share, the company said, reaffirming a forecast given last month.
—Michelle F. Davis, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Feb. 2023
The French company posted annual profit of $36.2 billion for 2022, double the previous year’s earnings.
—Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 8 Feb. 2023
Under Armour beat earnings and sales expectations in the third quarter and raised its profit outlook for the current fiscal year as footwear and international sales drove growth.
—Lorraine Mirabella, Baltimore Sun, 8 Feb. 2023
Fox said profit in the period attributable to shareholders came to $313 million, or 58 cents a share, compared with a loss of $85 million, or 15 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 8 Feb. 2023
From the railroad to real estate to fruit to radio components, settlers built pre-silicon Palo Alto on new ideas about how science yielded efficiency and profit.
—Malcolm Harris, The Atlantic, 8 Feb. 2023
In fact, data brokers derive significant profit from businesses whose whole purpose is identifying consumers who face financial instability.
—WIRED, 8 Feb. 2023
Q.ai - Powering A Personal Wealth Movement, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2023
In line with the slump in the crypto market, demand for virtual real estate has cooled off, leaving landowners looking for new ways to profit from their investments.
—WIRED, 18 Jan. 2023
In the creator economy, there is nothing more powerful than giving your followers the ability to profit.
—Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 2 Nov. 2022
The investors would then take ownership of the claims and attempt to profit by investigating Mr. Jones’s assets and trying to recover as much of the original judgment as possible.
—Emily Steel, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2022
The system is intended to solve one of the great challenges of fighting climate change, creating a way for people with rights to the rainforest to profit from preserving it instead of knocking it down.
—Jon Emont, WSJ, 15 May 2022
Since the turn of the 20th century, there have been ever-expanding ways to profit off the future, as more and more areas of social life become terrains of speculative economic opportunity.
—Devon Powers, Wired, 30 Dec. 2021
The culprits range from internet scammers overseas who may not have ever stepped foot in the Bluegrass State to locals looking to profit off revelers.
—Rae Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 25 Jan. 2023
Last week’s bankruptcy filing by Genesis Global Capital marked yet another failure in the once-hot crypto lending space, where organizations tried to profit off loans tied to individual investors and institutional funds.
—Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 23 Jan. 2023
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Noun
The Woonsocket, Rhode Island, company’s profit surged 76% in the quarter to $2.3 billion.
—Tom Murphy, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Feb. 2023
The ride-hailing company reported higher revenue and adjusted profit.
—WSJ, 8 Feb. 2023
Adjusted profit for the year will be $8.70 to $8.90 a share, the company said, reaffirming a forecast given last month.
—Michelle F. Davis, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Feb. 2023
The French company posted annual profit of $36.2 billion for 2022, double the previous year’s earnings.
—Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 8 Feb. 2023
Under Armour beat earnings and sales expectations in the third quarter and raised its profit outlook for the current fiscal year as footwear and international sales drove growth.
—Lorraine Mirabella, Baltimore Sun, 8 Feb. 2023
Fox said profit in the period attributable to shareholders came to $313 million, or 58 cents a share, compared with a loss of $85 million, or 15 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 8 Feb. 2023
From the railroad to real estate to fruit to radio components, settlers built pre-silicon Palo Alto on new ideas about how science yielded efficiency and profit.
—Malcolm Harris, The Atlantic, 8 Feb. 2023
In fact, data brokers derive significant profit from businesses whose whole purpose is identifying consumers who face financial instability.
—WIRED, 8 Feb. 2023
Verb
Investors will be looking for ways to profit from this game-changing technology, and the opportunities will be plentiful.
—Q.ai - Powering A Personal Wealth Movement, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2023
In line with the slump in the crypto market, demand for virtual real estate has cooled off, leaving landowners looking for new ways to profit from their investments.
—WIRED, 18 Jan. 2023
In the creator economy, there is nothing more powerful than giving your followers the ability to profit.
—Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 2 Nov. 2022
The investors would then take ownership of the claims and attempt to profit by investigating Mr. Jones’s assets and trying to recover as much of the original judgment as possible.
—Emily Steel, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2022
The system is intended to solve one of the great challenges of fighting climate change, creating a way for people with rights to the rainforest to profit from preserving it instead of knocking it down.
—Jon Emont, WSJ, 15 May 2022
Since the turn of the 20th century, there have been ever-expanding ways to profit off the future, as more and more areas of social life become terrains of speculative economic opportunity.
—Devon Powers, Wired, 30 Dec. 2021
The culprits range from internet scammers overseas who may not have ever stepped foot in the Bluegrass State to locals looking to profit off revelers.
—Rae Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 25 Jan. 2023
Last week’s bankruptcy filing by Genesis Global Capital marked yet another failure in the once-hot crypto lending space, where organizations tried to profit off loans tied to individual investors and institutional funds.
—Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 23 Jan. 2023
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These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'profit.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin profectus advance, profit, from proficere
First Known Use
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of profit was
in the 14th century
Phrases Containing profit
Dictionary Entries Near profit
Cite this Entry
“Profit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/profit. Accessed 26 Mar. 2023.
Kids Definition
More from Merriam-Webster on profit
Nglish: Translation of profit for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of profit for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about profit
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