: 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
Eric Moskowitz, The Atlantic, 31 May 2026
But my other benchmark trade-in device, the iPhone 14 Pro, has remained at $214.
—Ewan Spence, Forbes.com, 29 May 2026
Ava Berger, NPR, 28 May 2026
There is a real technology opportunity to remove the operational friction—the document chase, the manual reconciliation, the rent-verification cycle that takes 30 days because the data lives in 15 places—without turning the asset into something that trades in seconds.
—Jeromee Johnson, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for trade-in
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Noun
Many were hardware merchants, shopkeepers, even doctors who had bought an early automobile to make house calls and decided to try selling a few more on the side, taking a good horse for $100 trade-in value and moving a couple of Fords a year.
—Eric Moskowitz, The Atlantic, 31 May 2026
But my other benchmark trade-in device, the iPhone 14 Pro, has remained at $214.
—Ewan Spence, Forbes.com, 29 May 2026
Verb
Connecticut engaged in extensive global trade in the 18th and 19th centuries, said Andy Horowitz, Connecticut's state historian.
—Ava Berger, NPR, 28 May 2026
There is a real technology opportunity to remove the operational friction—the document chase, the manual reconciliation, the rent-verification cycle that takes 30 days because the data lives in 15 places—without turning the asset into something that trades in seconds.
—Jeromee Johnson, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026
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 4 Jun. 2026.
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