trade-off

noun

1
: a balancing of factors all of which are not attainable at the same time
the education versus experience trade-off which governs personnel practicesH. S. White
2
: a giving up of one thing in return for another : exchange
trade off transitive verb

Examples of trade-off in a Sentence

a trade-off in which a company got a celebrity spokesperson and a fading star got some much-needed cash
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Those stark trade-offs are sparking fierce debate and some dissent from within the GOP’s ranks. Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 1 July 2025 Despite the trade-offs mentioned above, a DIY approach can alleviate some lock-in anxiety by retaining architectural control. Rafael Flores, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025 That leaves major questions unanswered: What were the U.S. trade-offs? Dewardric L. McNeal, CNBC, 29 June 2025 Surprising new work bucks 50 years of assumptions about the trade-offs between computation space and time Once upon a time computers filled entire rooms, reading numbers from spinning tapes and churning them through wires to do chains of basic arithmetic. Max Springer, Scientific American, 27 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for trade-off

Word History

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of trade-off was in 1909

Cite this Entry

“Trade-off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trade-off. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

trade-off

noun
ˈtrād-ˌȯf
1
: a balancing of things all of which cannot be had at the same time
2
: a giving up of one thing in return for another
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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