Word family noun profit profitability profiteering profiteer adjective profitable ≠ unprofitable profitless verb profit profiteer adverb profitably profitlessly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishprofitprof‧it1 /ˈprɒfɪt $ ˈprɑː-/ ●●● S1 W1 noun 1 [countable, uncountable]BBTPROFIT money that you gain by selling things or doing business, after your costs have been paid OPP loss → revenue The shop’s daily profit is usually around $500. She sold the business and bought a farm with the profits. They sold their house at a healthy profit.2 [uncountable] formalGET an advantage that you gain from doing something There’s no profit in letting meetings drag on. → non-profitCOLLOCATIONSadjectivesa big/huge profitDrug companies make huge profits.a quick profit (=happening quickly)They were only interested in a quick profit.a good profitThere is a good profit to be made in selling cars.a substantial profitThe agent then sells the land for a substantial profit to someone else.a healthy/handsome/tidy profit (=big)By the second year, the restaurant began to make a healthy profit.a small/modest profitThe business managed to produce a small profit last year.net profit (=after tax and costs are paid)The company made a net profit of $10.5 million.gross profit (also pre-tax profit) (=before tax and costs are paid)The hotel group made a gross profit of £51.9 million in 2008. trading/operating profit (=profit relating to a company’s normal activities)Both turnover and operating profits were lower.verbsmake a profitWe are in business to make a profit.turn/earn a profit (=make a profit)Without the liquor sales, the store could not turn a profit.show a profit (=make a profit)The business will not show a profit this year.report/post a profit (=officially announce a profit)The company reported net profits of $3.6 million for fiscal year 2006.generate profit(s)We have the capacity to generate more profit.boost profits (=make them increase)They aim to boost profits by slashing costs.maximize profits (=make them as big as possible)Every firm tries to maximize its profits.profits are up/downPre-tax profits were up 21.5%.profits rise/increase/growHalf of the firms surveyed expected profits to rise.profits soar/leap (=increase by a large amount)profits fallThe group saw profits fall from £24m to £17.8m.profits slump/plunge (=fall by a large amount)The group’s pre-tax profits slumped to £25.5m. THESAURUSprofit money that you gain by selling things or doing business, after your costs have been paidOur profits are down this year.The big oil companies have made enormous profits following the rise in oil prices.earnings the profit that a company makesThe company said it expected fourth-quarter earnings to be lower than last year’s results.Pre-tax earnings have grown from $6.3 million to $9.4 million. return the profit that you get from an investmentYou should get a good return on your investment.We didn’t get much of a return on our money.They’re promising high returns on investments of over $100,000.turnover the amount of business done during a particular periodThe illicit drugs industry has an annual turnover of some £200bn.takings the money that a business, shop etc gets from selling its goods in a day, week, month etcHe counted the night’s takings.This week’s takings are up on last week’s. interest money paid to you by a bank or other financial institution when you keep money in an account thereThey are offering a high rate of interest on deposits of over £3,000.The money is still earning interest in your account.dividend a part of a company’s profit that is divided among the people who have shares in the companyShareholders will receive a dividend of 10p for each share.The company said it will pay shareholders a final dividend of 700 cents a share. Examples from the Corpus
profit• For the first time, the company's annual profits were over $1 million.• The answer is that firms will want to use the most efficient technique because it yields the greatest profit.• Of course, Super Show is not about haute couture, but about haute profits.• They made a huge profit when they sold the business.• They don't care who they sell weapons to. All they are interested in is profit.• At the pre-tax level, profits were down 90.0% at £160,000.• The Profitboss encourages unconventional ways of making profit, encouraging his people to be creative and take initiative.• In Marx, profit is the consequence of exploitation, not a return to entrepreneurial risk-taking activity.• There's no profit to be found in lying.• We aim to increase our profits by at least 5% every year.• If an extension is not obtained subsequent profit costs may be deferred.• Pre-tax profits, excluding an accounting change, fell by 35% to £185m.• All the profits from the auction will go to cancer research.at a ... profit• Whatever his decision, it will be aimed at making profit.• Deliberate assistance to economic growth went hand in hand with administrative reform aimed at channelling its profits firmly into princely treasuries.• The company this year announced a reorganization aimed at stemming the profit decline.• Heaven knows how dealers can sell these cars at a profit.• He'd been running the clinic at a substantial profit for nearly ten years.• Out came Dakota farmers who despaired at the meager profits they made growing wheat.• It is much more difficult to get at property profits than at share profits - everyone has to live somewhere.• They took assets on to their books assuming they would sell them at a profit shortly afterwards.profitprofit2 ●○○ verb [intransitive, transitive] 1 formalUSEFUL to be useful or helpful to someoneprofit somebody to do something It might profit you to learn about the company before your interview.profit by/from There are lessons in these stories that all children can profit by.2 to get money from doing somethingprofit by/from Some industries, such as shipbuilding, clearly profited from the war.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
profit• In the end, the stocks soared and everyone profited.• As long as he was winning, readers could profit.• It profited from their energy and their accumulated capital.• Allowing insiders - ie, better-informed people - to profit from trading means that share prices reflect information more quickly.• Investors buying these new issues also profited handsomely.profit by/from• Revenues are up 65% and profits by 150%.• Listen to his story, and profit by it.• Overall, the insurance industry profits from litigation.• Networks are making heavy profits from news, and on-air talent is being paid more than ever to communicate to the public.• It also brings in a good two-thirds of its profits from overseas.• The suit also said several partners in the firm personally profited from the fake sale of seven Western Savings branch offices.• The bank would profit from this, but the investors might not fair as well.profit by/from• Revenues are up 65% and profits by 150%.• Listen to his story, and profit by it.• Overall, the insurance industry profits from litigation.• Networks are making heavy profits from news, and on-air talent is being paid more than ever to communicate to the public.• It also brings in a good two-thirds of its profits from overseas.• The suit also said several partners in the firm personally profited from the fake sale of seven Western Savings branch offices.• The bank would profit from this, but the investors might not fair as well.From Longman Business Dictionaryprofitprof-it1 /ˈprɒfətˈprɑː-/ noun [countable, uncountable]1ACCOUNTINGFINANCEmoney that you gain from selling something, or from doing business in a particular period of time, after taking away costsA business has to make a profit.Since it was set up two years ago, the company hasn’t earned a profit but could break even this year.Coca-Cola reported strong profits in the latest quarter.They will have to produce and sell more than 300,000 cars a year to turn (=make) a profit on the model.We’ve got to see the economy recover, and we’ve got to see corporate profits (=those of companies in general) increase.They controlled the market for the stock and drove it up to artificially high prices, netting themselves and others excess profits (=profits that people think are too high).The company said that sales and profits increased in four of its major divisions. – Gain is the financial profit that a person or company makes. People often use the word 'gain' when they believe that money is the only thing that someone is interested in Developers continue to cut down the forest for economic gain.Proceeds are all the money that you get from selling something, or from something such as a show or sports event The proceeds from the sale of the house went to his brother. A surplus is the amount of money that remains after a company or organization has paid all its costs, charges, wages etc The division’s surplus last year was under $10 million.Interest is an amount of profit that you make at an agreed rate when you put money into a bank or when you lend money to someone The best rate of interest the banks can offer is around 7%.Return is the total profit that you get as a result of putting money into a bank, company etc How can I get the best return on my capital?Returns from farming have been declining for many years.Yield is the exact amount of profit that you get as a result of lending money to a company, government etc Shareholders should not expect a high yield this year.2first-quarter/second-half/etc profitACCOUNTINGFINANCE profits for the first three-month period, second six-month period etc of the financial yearThe insurer recorded fourth-quarter profit of 86 cents a share, compared with year-earlier net income of 82 cents. → accumulated profit → after-tax profit → book profit → consolidated profit → distributable profit → gross profit → net profit → operating profit → paper profit → pre-tax profit → pure profit → retained profit → taxable profit → trading profit → undistributed profit → windfall profitprofitprofit2 verb [intransitive] to gain money from an event, selling something etcprofit by/from somethingTiger profited by anticipating the fall in the Tokyo stock market.Coca-Cola profited from a weaker dollar and higher sales overseas.→ See Verb tableOrigin profit1 (1200-1300) Old French Latin profectus, past participle of proficere; → PROFICIENT 