to trade upon
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To make use of so as to obtain some advantage. The phrase is usually employed to describe the unscrupulous use of private knowledge or even of a personal affliction to arouse sympathy.
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 “to trade upon” mean?
To make use of so as to obtain some advantage. The phrase is usually employed to describe the unscrupulous use of private knowledge or even of a personal affliction to arouse sympathy.
Is “to trade upon” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.