sale
[noun]
Synonyms:
- selling, deal, disposal, marketing, transaction
- for sale: available, obtainable, on the market

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

sale S1 W1 /seɪl/ noun
[Date: 1000-1100; Language: Old Norse; Origin: sala]

1. [uncountable and countable] when you sell something
sale of
The use and sale of marijuana remains illegal.
Harvey gets a $50 commission every time he makes a sale (=sells something as part of his job).
Car salesmen will often bring down the price rather than lose a sale (=fail to sell something).
arms sales to Iran

2. sales
a) [plural] the total number of products that are sold during a particular period of time:
Britain’s retail sales (=all the things sold to the public in shops) jumped 3.2 percent in April.
sales of
Sales of automobiles are up this year.
We did not reach our summer sales targets.
The company no longer releases its sales figures (=how much money it makes or loses from sales).
in sales
We grossed more than $500,000 in sales last year.
b) [uncountable] the part of a company that deals with selling products:
She found a job in sales.
a sales manager
a worldwide sales force of 1,100

3. for sale available to be bought:
Excuse me, are these for sale?
There was a ‘for sale’ sign in the yard.
Reluctantly, they put the family home up for sale (=made it available to be bought).

4. on sale
a) available to be bought in a shop:
A wide range of postcards and other souvenirs are on sale in the visitors’ centre.
Stephen King’s new novel will go on sale (=will begin to be sold) next week.
b) especially American English available to be bought at a lower price than usual:
These gloves were on sale for only $9.

5. [countable] a period of time when shops sell their goods at lower prices than usual:
Marsdon’s department store is having a sale this week.
the sales British English (=when all the shops have a sale)
I picked up some real bargains in the January sales this year.

6. [countable] an event at which things are sold to the person who offers the highest price Synonym : auction:
a sale of 17th-century paintings

7. sales drive/campaign when a company makes a special effort to try to increase the amount of its products that it sells:
a new sales campaign

8. sales pitch/talk the things that someone says when they are trying to persuade you to buy something

9. (on) sale or return British English if a shop buys something on sale or return, it can return the goods that it is unable to sell
⇒ bill of sale, jumble sale, point of sale

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

sale
noun
I. act of selling
ADJ. quick The price is low to ensure a quick sale.
major, massive a major sale of paintings the massive sale of foreign currency reserves
illegal the illegal sale of alcohol
auction, bring-and-buy, car-boot, garage, jumble, tabletop | house, share, etc.
VERB + SALE ban, block, halt, prevent, prohibit, stop | close, make Closing the sale means that you ask the buyer to say yes or no.
hold A sale of paintings will be held at the Town Hall on Saturday.
SALE + VERB make sth, realize sth, total sth The jumble sale made £358 for cancer research. The sale of paintings totalled £250,000. | go ahead/through, proceed | fall through The sale of the house fell through when the buyer pulled out.
SALE + NOUN agreement, contract | price | proceeds to maximize the sale proceeds
PREP. for ~ I see they've put their house up for sale.
on ~ The new stamps are now on sale at main post offices.
PHRASES conditions of sale The conditions of sale were posted up around the auction room.
a contract of sale, on open sale Drugs were on open sale in the club.
the proceeds/profits from a sale All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to charity.
(on) sale or return The novels are delivered to newspaper shops and other outlets on a sale or return basis.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

sale
II. sales: amount sold
ADJ. good, healthy, high, huge, massive, strong | increased | poor | annual, quarterly, etc. | direct, retail, telephone Direct sales, by mail order, were up by 15%.
domestic | export, foreign, international, overseas | global, overall, total, world, worldwide | gross, net | unit, volume | high-street High-street sales have fallen for the fifth consecutive month.
arms, car, house, land, ticket, etc.
QUANT. level, value, volume The high volume of sales makes the low pricing policy profitable.
VERB + SALE achieve, have | generate The advertising campaign generated massive sales. | boost
SALE + VERB account for sth North American sales account for 40% of the worldwide market.
amount to sth, reach sth sales amounting to over £4 million Sales failed to reach 10,000 units.
exceed sth | be/go up, grow, improve, increase, rise, rocket, skyrocket, soar Sales of ice cream are up because of the hot weather.
be/go down, decline, drop, fall, slump
SALE + NOUN force, people, personnel, staff, team | department, office | director, manager, rep/representative | campaign, drive, effort, promotion | estimates, figures, levels, performance, revenue, targets, volume | growth | slump The car manufacturer was forced to shed jobs following a dramatic sales slump. | conference | presentation | report | tax | contract | patter, pitch, talk an aggressive sales pitch from the company rep
PHRASES a decline/drop/fall/slowdown/slump in sales, a growth/an increase/a jump/a rise/a surge/an upturn in sales, sales and marketing
 ⇒ Note at PER CENT (for more verbs)
 ⇒ Special page at BUSINESS

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

sale
III. period of reduced prices
ADJ. annual, summer, winter, etc. | clothing, furniture, etc. | clearance, closing-down
PREP. at/in the ~s I bought it at the winter sales.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

sale

make a sale (=sell something as part of your job)
A salesman may communicate perfectly well with a customer but fail to make a sale.
lose a sale (=fail to sell something)
Harry lost the sale because he was not persistent enough.
a quick sale
He wants a quick sale, so he might reduce the price.
strong (=good)
The company has reported continuing strong sales.
disappointing
Sales for the first three months of this year were disappointing.
record sales (=better than ever before)
The Ford Fiesta has achieved record sales in Italy.
car/ticket/book etc sales
Car sales have fallen every month for the past two years.
annual sales
The company has annual sales of over $300 million.
worldwide sales
Worldwide sales of wine are increasing.
retail sales (=sales of things to the public in shops)
The volume of retail sales was 0.3 percent higher than in the previous quarter.
export sales (=sales of things to other countries)
Export sales rose for the sixth consecutive month.
high-street sales British English (=in shops in towns and cities )
Last month saw record high-street sales.
sales increase/rise/grow/go up
Sales rose by 9% last year.
sales fall/drop/go down (=become lower)
European sales have fallen by 12%.
sales improve
Sales are expected to improve over the coming year.
sales soar (=increase quickly and by a large amount)
Computer sales soared as prices continued to come down.
sales slump (=decrease quickly and by a large amount)
Meat sales have slumped following the most recent health scare.
sales figures
The company said its sales figures continued to show growth.
a sales target
It achieved only 20% of its sales target.
the sales force (=the people who sell a company's products)
The sales force had grown from 40 to 270.
sales performance (=how much a company sells)
There has been an encouraging improvement in sales performance.
the sales forecast (=how much a company expects to sell )
The sales forecast is for a 12% increase in sales over the current year.
an increase/growth in sales
The company is expecting a 20% increase in sales next year.
a fall/drop in sales
Some jobs may be cut following a big drop in sales.
the volume of sales (=the amount of goods a company sells)
Because of its high volume of sales, the company can keep prices low.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

sale
noun
1.
BAD: This company prefers to employ girls to sale their products.
GOOD: This company prefers to employ girls to sell their products.

Usage Note:
Sale /seIl/ is a noun: 'This new law makes the sale of pirated video tapes a criminal offence.' 'Are you sure the house is for sale?'
The verb is sell /sel/: 'They were selling all the shoes half-price.'

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2.
BAD: I bought both pairs of shoes on a sale.
GOOD: I bought both pairs of shoes in a sale.

Usage Note:
You buy something in a sale (NOT on ): 'I got the shoes half-price in a sale.'
Compare: 'Shiseido moisturizing cream is on sale in most department stores, priced £4.99.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

sale
seɪl
See: no deal or no sale , on sale , white sale

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲