TRADE

(BUSINESS) [noun] - a particular business or industrythe building/catering/tourist trade [C]the book/car/fur trade [C]He worked in the same trade all his life. [C]The company supplies its goods only to the trade (= people who work in a particular business or industry), not direct to the public. [U]People who work in the trade (= the same business or industry) can buy their books at a discount. [U]A trade publication/journal/magazine/paper is a newspaper produced for people working in a particular business or industry.the trade publication, 'Automotive World'a steel industry trade journalA trade is also a job, esp. one which needs special skill and which involves working with your hands.After she left school, she went to college to learn a trade. [C]He's a carpenter by trade. [U](US) A trade school (ANZ technical school) is a school where students learn skills which involve working with their hands.After junior high school he went to a trade school, where he learned to be an auto mechanic.A trade secret is a piece of information about a product that is known only to the particular company that makes it.The exact ingredients of Coca Cola are a trade secret.(figurative) My aunt says that it's a trade secret (= that she is not willing to tell anyone) how old she is.A trade union (also trades union, union, US labor union) is an organization of workers in a particular industry, which represents them and aims to improve their pay and working conditions. This system of representation and its principles are known as trade unionism. A person who is an active member of such an organization is a trade unionist.The government's proposals have been strongly criticized by the trade unions.The rally was organized by local trade union officials.He was a member of the Conservative trade union movement, and in 1960 he became the first trade unionist to chair the Conservative party conference.In many industrial countries, trade unionism has declined. See also TUC.