lexicow

export

/ɪkˈspɔːrt//ɪkˈspɔːt/·verb, noun
I watch a little port send its cargo up off the home coast, riding a route that curves clear over the side of the globe to a market on the far face, which brightens as it takes them in. Then, back down the very same arc, a coin of worth comes rolling home and the port glows. We send our own across the world to where they are wanted — and what returns is the value, never the thing.
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Definition

To export is to carry something out — classically goods sent across a border to be sold abroad, the mirror image of import. The Latin roots are literal: ex- 'out' and portare 'to carry'. A nation that exports more than it buys earns foreign revenue and strengthens its trade balance. The verb has long outgrown shipping, though: software exports a file to another format, and a culture exports its music and ideas. Note the stress shift — the verb is exPORT, the noun EXport.

Examples

  • Germany exports more cars than almost any other nation in Europe.
  • Most of the country's oil is exported, much of it sitting in transit at a single port.
  • You can export the spreadsheet as a PDF before you share it.

Collocations

export goods·export market·a net exporter·export ban·export revenue

Synonyms

ship·sell abroad·dispatch·transport·send overseas

Antonyms

import

Word family

export (noun)·exporter (noun)·exportation (noun)

In TOEFL & IELTS

Core economics vocabulary and a staple of IELTS Task 1, where charts track export figures over time. Master the noun phrases — 'a net exporter', 'export market', 'export revenue' — and the verb–noun stress shift, a classic pronunciation trap (exPORT the goods / our EXports rose). Always contrast it with its pair, import, when describing trade balance.