From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsalesale /seɪl/ ●●● S1 W1 noun 1 [countable, uncountable]BBT when you sell somethingsale 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 Iran2 → sales3 → for sale4 → on sale5 [countable]BBTCHEAP 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]BBTSELL an event at which things are sold to the person who offers the highest price SYN auction a sale of 17th-century paintings7 → sales drive/campaign8 → sales pitch/talk9 → (on) sale or return → bill of sale, jumble sale, point of saleCOLLOCATIONS – Meaning 1: when you sell somethingverbsmake 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.adjectivesa quick saleHe wants a quick sale, so he might reduce the price. COLLOCATIONS – Meaning 2: ADJECTIVES/NOUN + salesstrong (=good)The company has reported continuing strong sales.disappointingSales 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 salesCar sales have fallen every month for the past two years.annual salesThe company has annual sales of over $300 million.worldwide salesWorldwide 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.verbssales increase/rise/grow/go upSales rose by 9% last year.sales fall/drop/go down (=become lower)European sales have fallen by 12%.sales improveSales 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 + NOUNsales figuresThe company said its sales figures continued to show growth.a sales targetIt 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.phrasesan increase/growth in salesThe company is expecting a 20% increase in sales next year.a fall/drop in salesSome 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.
Examples from the Corpus
sale• Amelia bought her jacket at a sale for twenty dollars.• There's going to be a sale at Macy's next week.• The bookstore across the street is having a sale.• an exhibit and sale of Chinese art• The declaration exposed him to accusations of hypocrisy after each revelation of arms sales to dubious regimes.• Deb's biggest sale today was a guitar for $500.• All the Christmas sales start right after Thanksgiving.• a craft sale• In addition to the conference, a one day sales training course was held the day before.• Last year saw half of privately-held Tivoli's revenues come from sales of Tivoli Works, the framework, toolkits and services.• Toll Brothers Inc., a builder of luxury homes, is seeing a rapid rise in its sales.• I got this coat for half price in the January sales.• The emphatic answer is that it is not a contract of sale.• Five further drawings were purchased after the sale from dealers, again with outside support.• The company declined to give a timetable for the sale.• Huizenga was expected to announce the details of the sale Thursday afternoon at news conference at Pro Player Stadium.lose ... sale• The regional newspaper industry may also lose sales.• In the 1967 epidemic more than 2,300 infections were reported, which cost the country £150million in slaughter costs and lost sales.• However, the trailer's loss was not merely nominal because he had lost a sale.• Foot-and-mouth has already cost £51million in lost sales of livestock.• Thus when one purchaser backed out, the trader did not lose a sale.the sales• There were other ways to advertise that could keep the warnings at a minimum, and the sales of cigarettes zooming.• Cheryl also handles all car phone arrangements for the sales team, negotiating rates with the phone companies.• Think back to the day Joan Yancey of Tandem returned from the sales conference.• A Production Budget is prepared on the basis of the Sales Budget.• The name of the sales person who made each sale; 5.• Answer guide: They have no direct effect but often the debtor is the other side of the sales entry.• Once the desired sales price is deter-mined, a desired amount will be deducted from the sales price for profit.• This may result in a product specification being drawn up in which the sales engineers may have an influence.From Longman Business Dictionarysalesale /seɪl/ noun1[countable, uncountable]COMMERCE the act of selling someone property, food, or other goodssale ofThe public protested at the sale of land for industrial development.A house sale may be completed in four weeks.Every time we make a sale, I get $50 commission.Rather than lose a sale, car salesmen will often bring down the price.Tickets go on sale (=become available to buy) later this week. → see also bill of sale, conditions of sale, offer for sale, point of sale, trust for sale, trustee for sale2for saleCOMMERCE available to be boughtExecutives said the firm may be for sale.We don’t have a for sale sign up outside the building.She recently put her house up for sale.3on sale American EnglishCOMMERCE available for a short time at a reduced priceSYNON OFFER BrEI bought a set of iron skillets on sale for $8.99.4COMMERCE [countable] a period of time when a shop sells its goods at lower prices than usualThe drugstore downtown is having a sale, and some things are down to half price.5the sales [plural] British EnglishCOMMERCE when shops are selling their goods at lower prices than usualYou might be able to get a cheap bed in the sales.The cost of footwear was reduced by 12% at the January sales.6[countable]COMMERCE an event at which things are sold, especially to the person who offers the highest pricesale ofa sale of 17th century paintings 7sales [plural]ACCOUNTING the total number of products that a company sells during a particular period of timeWe grossed more than £500,000 in sales last year.The rate of sales growth slowed in the second half of the year.They’ve already reached their sales targets for this year.Do you have this month’s sales figures?8sales [uncountable]MARKETING the part of a company that deals with selling productsI’d like to work in sales.She is director of sales and marketing.a sales managerOrigin sale (1000-1100) Old Norse sala 