capital goods

Meaning

1. 1nounpluralbusiness

   Machines, tools, buildings and equipment that a business uses to make other products or provide services, rather than items sold to ordinary shoppers.

   Grammar: Plural noun taking a plural verb: capital goods are expensive.

   Patterns

   • invest in capital goods
   • demand for capital goods

   The factory spent millions on capital goods such as robotic welders and conveyor belts.

   Orders for capital goods often rise when companies feel confident about the future.

   A bakery's ovens count as capital goods, but the bread it sells does not.

Common combinations

invest in capital goods

Many firms invest in capital goods when interest rates fall.

capital goods industry

The capital goods industry supplies machinery to other manufacturers.

imports of capital goods

Imports of capital goods jumped as new plants opened.

durable capital goods

Durable capital goods like cranes can last for decades.

demand for capital goods

Weak demand for capital goods suggested that firms were cutting back.

Synonyms and how they differ

equipment

Equipment is a broader everyday word and can refer to things used at home, while capital goods is a business and economics term for production assets.

machinery

Machinery names only machines, whereas capital goods also covers buildings and tools.

producer goods

Producer goods is an older, more academic term meaning nearly the same thing, but it is less common in news reports.

Opposites

Word family

capital noun

money or assets used to start or run a business

capitalize verb

to provide money for a business or use something to advantage

capitalist noun

a person who invests money in business for profit

capitalism noun

an economic system based on private ownership of business

Commonly confused: capital goods or consumer goods?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “capital goods”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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