the law of supply and demand
Preserved but no longer current.
The economic statement that the competition of buyers and sellers tends to make such changes ir^price that trie demand for any article in a given market will become equal to the supply. In other words, if the demand exceeds the supply the price rises, operating so as to reduce the de- mand and so enable the supply to meet it, and vice versa.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “the law of supply and demand” mean?
The economic statement that the competition of buyers and sellers tends to make such changes ir^price that trie demand for any article in a given market will become equal to the supply. In other words, if the demand exceeds the supply the price rises, operating so as to reduce the de- mand and so enable the supply to meet it, and vice versa.
Is “the law of supply and demand” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.