slave trade

American

noun

the business or process of capturing, transporting, and selling human beings into chattel slavery, especially Black Africans brought to the New World prior to the mid-19th century.

slave trade British

noun

the business of trading in slaves, esp the transportation of Black Africans to America from the 16th to 19th centuries

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

slave trade Cultural

The transportation of slaves from Africa to North and South America between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Congress banned the importing of slaves into the United States in 1808.

Other Word Forms

slave-trader noun
slave-trading noun

Etymology

Origin of slave trade

First recorded in 1725–35

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For the abolitionists, Congress prohibited slavery in the new state of California and the slave trade was banned in the capital District of Columbia.

From Literature

Ivory Coast has done little to preserve the memory of the transatlantic slave trade.

From Barron's

It was primarily aimed at the descendants of those who were victims of the transatlantic slave trade.

From BBC

The Browns had a hand in everything from ironmaking and rum distilling to whaling and the slave trade.

From Barron's

Around this time, the trans-Atlantic slave trade started gradually as Portuguese traders pushed farther south along the west coast of Africa in ships with larger cargo holds and more artillery than earlier vessels.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023