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market
have a corner on the market
To exclusively control the supply or sale of a particular product or service, or to do so much more successfully than anyone else. Through clever and aggressive marketing, they were able to have a corner on the market in coffee shops across the Pacific Northwest.
flea market
A typically outdoor market or bazaar where sundry goods, antiques, household items, or trinkets are sold, bartered, or traded. Possibly from the French marché aux puces, a name given to an outdoor market in Paris where second-hand goods were sold. I love our town's local flea market— you never know what you might find there!
meat market
1. A typically public place where one goes to find potential sexual partners. Primarily heard in US. Our college's student bar is such a meat market on the weekends. It seems like everyone I know has hooked up with at least one person there. Everyone knows that the clubs on Leeson Street are just meat markets for single people.
2. A location where people are gathered, displayed, and appraised for their looks or abilities, akin to cattle being valued in a market. Primarily heard in US. These summer training camps are really just meat markets for college football recruiters to find the most promising up-and-coming players. The restaurant is an oddity, a meat market that only hires women for their large busts.
drive (one's) pigs to market
To snore. I can't get any sleep with Will driving his pigs to market every night—I think it's time for him to see a doctor about his snoring.
drug on the market
Something that is not in great demand because it is abundantly available. Mobile phones are a drug on the market these days, which is why they're so affordable.
glut on the market
Something that is not in great demand because it is abundantly available. Mobile phones are a glut on the market these days, which is why they're so affordable.
market day
The day on which a public market is scheduled to take place. There's no farmer's market during the week because Saturday is market day.
cattle market
1. A typically public place where one goes to find potential sexual partners. Almost always used in a negative way. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. Our college's student bar is such a cattle market on the weekends. It seems like everyone I know has hooked up with at least one person there. Everyone knows that the clubs on Leeson Street are just cattle markets for single people.
2. A place or situation in which people are gathered, displayed, and appraised for their looks or abilities, akin to cattle being valued in a market. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. These summer training camps are really just cattle markets for college football recruiters to find the most promising up-and-coming players. The restaurant is an oddity, a cattle market that only hires women for their large busts.
seller's market
A market in which demand is greater than supply, thus creating better conditions for sellers than for buyers. Since I'm buying in a seller's market, I'm really nervous that I won't be able to find a house in my price range.
be in the market for
To be in pursuit of something. This phrase is often, but not always, used when someone is interested in buying a specific, often expensive, item. Is it true that you're in the market for a new car? These standing mixers are beautiful, but I'm not in the market for one right now—I hardly ever bake anymore. Sam and I only broke up a few weeks ago, so I'm not in the market for a new girlfriend just yet.
corner the market on something
and corner the something marketFig. to develop or obtain a monopoly of something. The company sought to corner the market on frozen yogurt. Standard Oil had the oil market cornered at the end of the nineteenth century.
a drug on the market
and a glut on the marketsomething that is on the market in great abundance. Right now, small computers are a drug on the market. Twenty years ago, small transistor radios were a glut on the market.
find oneself in the market
(for something) Go to in the market (for something).
*in the market (for something)
Fig. wanting to buy something. (*Typically: be ~; find oneself ~.) I'm in the market for a new camera. If you have a boat for sale, we're in the market.
like a blind dog in a meat market
Rur. out of control. The drunk staggered out of the saloon like a blind dog in a meat market, stumbling all over the sidewalk. The kids tore through the museum like a blind dog in a meat market, touching everything they weren't supposed to touch.
*on the market
openly available for sale. (*Typically: be ~; get something ~; put something ~.) We put our house on the market last year and it still hasn't sold.
play the (stock) market
to invest in the stock market. (As if it were a game or as if it were gambling.) Would you rather put your money in the bank or play the market? I've learned my lesson playing the market. I lost a fortune.
price someone or something out of the market
to raise or lower a price and drive someone or something out of the marketplace. You are a very good singer, but your agent has priced you out of the market. The discount prices posted by the chain store were meant to price us out of the market.
corner the market
also have a corner on the market to control the supply or sale of a particular product The company tried to corner the market on several types of computer software.
in the market for something
interested in buying something I'm not in the market for a car at the moment.
on the market
for sale We put our house on the market last spring.
play the market
to try to earn money by buying and selling shares in companies These traders are people who play the market for profit.
the bottom drops/falls out of the market
if the bottom drops out of the market of a product, people stop buying it The bottom fell out of the art market and dealers were left with hundreds of unsaleable paintings.
corner the market
to become so successful at selling or making a particular product that almost no one else sells or makes it They've more or less cornered the fast-food market - they're in every big city in the country.
a cattle market
(British, American & Australian informal) also a meat market (American & Australian informal) a place where people go to see sexually attractive women or to find sexual partners Beauty contests are just cattle markets. That new nightclub called The Venue is awful - it's a real meat market.
be in the market for something
to be interested in buying something and to have the money to be able to do so As lovely as it is, we're really not in the market for a five-bedroomed house.
See corner the marketcorner the market
Buy all or most of a commodity or stock so that its price goes up. For example, In a famous maneuver the Hunt brothers cornered the market in silver. This idiom uses corner in the sense of "drive would-be buyers into a corner." [Early 1800s]
drug on the market
A commodity whose supply greatly exceeds the demand for it. For example, Now that asbestos is considered dangerous, asbestos tile is a drug on the market. The use of the noun drug in the sense of "something overabundant" (as opposed to a medicine or narcotic) dates from the mid-1600s, but the first record of the full expression, put as drug in the market, dates only from the 1830s.
flea market
A market, usually held outdoors, where used goods and antiques are sold. For example, We picked up half of our furniture at flea markets. The term is a direct translation of the French marché aux puces and presumably implies that some of the used clothes and furniture might be flea-infested. [1920s]
in the market for
Wanting to possess, eager to have, seeking. For example, The crowd was in the market for more entertainment, or I'm sure he's in the market for another fast car. [Early 1900s]
on the market
For sale; also, available for buying. For example,
We've put the boat on the market, or
This is the only tandem bicycle on the market right now. This phrase, first put as
in the market, dates from the late 1600s; the first recorded use of the phrase with
on was in 1891. Also see
drug on the market.
play the market
Trade in securities in order to make money, as in He is always playing the market with only mixed results. This term uses play in the sense of "gamble," a usage dating from about 1500.
price out of the market
Charge so much for a product or service that no one will buy it, as in Asking $10 each for those old records is pricing yourself out of the market. [First half of 1900s]
slave market
n. a job market where many candidates for jobs come face to face with potential employers. I gotta go to the annual slave market this year. We’re hiring for a change.
spot market
n. the open market where deals are made on the spot. (Securities markets.) Oil reached nearly fifty-five dollars a barrel on the spot market.
in the market
Interested in buying: We are in the market for a used car.
on the market
1. Available for buying: Many kinds of seasonal flowers are on the market.
2. Up for sale: They put the family business on the market.
price out of the market
To eliminate the demand for (goods or services) by setting prices too high.