- trade off
- intransitive verb
: to exchange places with another or with each other at intervals : alternate
traded off with each other several years for first place in the bowling tournament
: to use alternatelytrade off large and small brushes for rough and fine work
* * *
trade offTo exchange, esp as a compromise• • •Main Entry: ↑trade* * *
ˌtrade ˈoff [transitive] [present tense I/you/we/they trade off he/she/it trades off present participle trading off past tense traded off past participle traded off] phrasal verbto accept a disadvantage so that you can have a benefitThey traded off a positive rate of inflation for a lower unemployment rate.
Thesaurus: to make a decisionsynonymMain entry: trade* * *
trade off [phrasal verb]— used to describe a situation in which one person does something, then another person does it, and so onWhen you get tired of driving, I'll trade off with you. = When you get tired of driving, we can trade off. [=when you get tired, I will drive for a while]
They trade off [=take turns] babysitting each other's kids.
Two of the band members traded off guitar solos. [=they took turns playing guitar solos]
2 trade off (something) : to give up (something that you want) in order to have something else— usually + forThe car's designers traded off some power for greater fuel efficiency.
see also ↑trade-off• • •Main Entry: ↑trade
Useful english dictionary. 2012.