: an item of merchandise (such as an automobile or refrigerator) taken as payment or part payment for a purchase
traded in; trading in; trades in
1
: to turn in as payment or part payment for a purchase or bill
trade the old car in on a new one
2
Examples of trade-in in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Janhoi McGregor, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2025
That's down from 24.9% of trade-ins toward new-car purchases had negative equity at the end of last year but up from 20.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023.
—Susan Tompor, USA Today, 14 Aug. 2025
Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Aug. 2025
The fossil trade in Morocco is the main source of income for more than 50,000 people, including diggers, miners, artisans, middlemen and wholesalers who go on to export the fossils, according to a 2018 study.
—Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for trade-in
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
This includes straight money-off deals, random coupons emailed to Google users, free watches and suddenly high trade-in prices.
—Janhoi McGregor, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2025
That's down from 24.9% of trade-ins toward new-car purchases had negative equity at the end of last year but up from 20.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023.
—Susan Tompor, USA Today, 14 Aug. 2025
Verb
The Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets have come together on a surprising trade in the latter weeks of the NBA offseason.
—Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Aug. 2025
The fossil trade in Morocco is the main source of income for more than 50,000 people, including diggers, miners, artisans, middlemen and wholesalers who go on to export the fossils, according to a 2018 study.
—Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for trade-in
Cite this Entry
“Trade-in.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trade-in. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share