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traveling salesman
noun
: a traveling representative of a business concern who solicits orders usually in an assigned territory
Examples of traveling salesman in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Charles Cruft, a traveling salesman who later worked as general manager for a manufacturing company that made dog toys and biscuits, did not put on his first dog show, in Islington, England, before 1891.
—Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 9 Mar. 2024
Josh Lucas and Stephen Dorff also star in Blood for Dust, which tells the story of Cliff (McNairy), a traveling salesman with financial issues who becomes enveloped in the world of drug trafficking after reuniting with Ricky (Harington).
—Ryan Gajewski, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Mar. 2024
Toni Kathrin Stern was born on Nov. 4, 1944, the youngest of two children of Harry Stern, a traveling salesman, and Audrey (Johnson) Stern, an apartment manager.
—Alex Williams, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2024
Nothing in a professional writer’s life more resembles the life of a traveling salesman than the literary book tour.
—Vivian Gornick, The New York Review of Books, 2 Nov. 2023
Jacobson declared bankruptcy in 1925, and the debt followed him in his career as a traveling salesman.
—Timothy Bella, Washington Post, 17 Oct. 2023
The modern traveling salesman gave up a 9-to-5 job in his hometown of San Diego in 2016 to follow his best friend to the Sonoran Desert and give vending a try.
—Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 20 Mar. 2023
Related: Harvard Medical School and Partners in Health receive $50 million to launch Paul Farmer Collaborative
After graduating in 1958, Cummings got his start selling Vicks VapoRub and Gorton’s frozen fish as a traveling salesman in the 1960s.
—Jon Chesto, BostonGlobe.com, 24 July 2023
Her father was a traveling salesman, and her mother was a homemaker.
After attending a high school for girls, Ms. Minco became an apprentice reporter at a newspaper in Breda, the Bredasche Courant.
—Emily Langer, Washington Post, 19 July 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'traveling salesman.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1833, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of traveling salesman was
in 1833
Dictionary Entries Near traveling salesman
Cite this Entry
“Traveling salesman.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/traveling%20salesman. Accessed 23 May. 2024.
Kids Definition
traveling salesman
noun
: a traveling representative of a business who solicits orders
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