Meaning & use
barter
To exchange goods or services directly for other goods or services without using money.
See it in a sentence
Farmers at the market would barter vegetables for eggs or firewood.
The two neighboring villages bartered fish for pottery long before either had a currency.
A note on using this word
Barter describes a direct exchange of items, unlike 'trade', which can also mean commerce carried out using money.
Words with a similar meaning
tradeswap
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Another way to use it
2. noun
A system or transaction of exchanging goods or services directly, without money.
Before coins existed, barter was the main way communities obtained goods they could not produce themselves.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “barter”, then compare your use with the examples above.
Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.