profit

noun, often attributive

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prof·it | \ ˈprä-fət

Definition of profit

(Entry 1 of 2)

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

profit

verb

profited; profiting; profits

Definition of profit (Entry 2 of 2)

intransitive verb

1 : to be of service or advantage : avail

2 : to derive benefit : gain

3 : to make a profit

transitive verb

: to be of service to : benefit

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Examples of profit in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Analysts expect strong profit growth to return for companies later this year as the economy recovers. — Stan Choe, USA TODAY, "Stocks slip as Wall Street takes a breather after 4-day run," 11 Jan. 2021 Tax filings and federal court documents indicate that FirstEnergy funneled money through a non-profit to Consumers Against Deceptive Fees, a group that billed itself as an advocate for Cleveland utility customers by questioning rates. — Robert Higgs, cleveland, "Cleveland City Council members might subpoena FirstEnergy, citing efforts to undermine CPP," 11 Jan. 2021 This slow profit retention and accumulation of value is the beginning, but not the end, of ending the conservatorship. — Michael Taylor, ExpressNews.com, "Taylor: The unfinished business of Fannie and Freddie," 5 Jan. 2021 Despite the challenge of even turning a profit right now, several restaurants are making moves to redesign their businesses. — Chronicle Staff, SFChronicle.com, "Coronavirus updates from the Bay Area: Dec. 24-30," 1 Jan. 2021 In an in-depth series, The Chronicle examined what’s become of that investment and tells the stories of the patients, scientists and profit-seekers all banking on this miracle cell. — San Francisco Chronicle, "The best of Chronicle storytelling," 1 Jan. 2021 Transparency International, a non-profit against global corruption, worked with lawmakers on the legislation, according to the Independent. — Callie Patteson, Washington Examiner, "US bans anonymous shell companies, passing 'historic' anti-corruption legislation," 1 Jan. 2021 Powerful companies like Google have the ability to co-opt, minimize, or silence criticisms of their own large-scale AI systems—systems that are at the core of their profit motives. — Alex Hanna, Wired, "Timnit Gebru’s Exit From Google Exposes a Crisis in AI," 31 Dec. 2020 Pop Marts’ revenue grew nearly 1,000% from 2017 to 2019 and its blind boxes earned a gross profit margin of 70.5% in the first half of 2020. — Jacky Wong, WSJ, "China’s ‘Blind Box’ Bubble," 31 Dec. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The most obvious are financial conflicts, in which a scientist stands to profit from the outcome. — Jeffrey Mervis, Science | AAAS, "Report finds holes in U.S. policies on foreign influence in research," 28 Dec. 2020 The 1884-1885 Berlin Conference, also known as the Congo Conference, was a bid by Wilhelm and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck to catch up with other colonial leaders in their race to profit from Africa’s natural resources, slaves, and craftsmanship. — Jacob Kushner, History & Culture, "In Germany, a new museum stirs up a colonial controversy," 16 Dec. 2020 Does' videos were still on MindGeek sites this month, the complaint said: Even after severing its partnership with GirlsDoPorn, MindGeek continues to profit from Plaintiffs' videos to this day. — Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, "40 GirlsDoPorn victims sue Pornhub for hosting “sex trafficking” videos," 16 Dec. 2020 In one sign of the optimism permeating markets, bullish call options—those that give investors the right to buy shares later in time—flourished, as investors looked to profit from stocks’ ascent. — Gunjan Banerji, WSJ, "Stocks Surge in Crazy Year for Financial Markets," 1 Jan. 2021 The bill from the Democrats would not only allow college athletes to profit from their names and images, but would allow group licensing deals. — Arkansas Online, "OPINION | EDITORIAL: Rank amateurs," 20 Dec. 2020 But a lot is happening thanks to pure economics as well: companies aiming to profit from new clean energy installations, which are becoming increasingly more affordable in many places. — David L. Mccollum, Quartz, "Coronavirus relief funds could pay to stop the worst of climate change while rebooting economies," 19 Nov. 2020 More recently, the ruling Communist Party has been encouraging use of mainland markets to raise money for private sector companies that generate most of China’s jobs and wealth and to give Chinese investors a chance to profit from their growth. — Joe Mcdonald, chicagotribune.com, "Market debut of Alipay operator Ant Group postponed in China," 3 Nov. 2020 But the presidency has limited his ability to profit from his base. — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, "Is Fox News Ready for Former President Trump?," 2 Nov. 2020

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.