Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Language: Old English
Origin: trendan 'to turn, go around'

trend

 noun
     
trend S2 W2 [countable]
1 a general tendency in the way a situation is changing or developingCOLLOCATIONS COLLOCATIONS
recent trend current/present/latest trend general trend alarming/worrying/disturbing trend growing/increasing/rising trend underlying/long-term trend (=the trend over a long period of time) economic trends downward/upward trend (=a tendency for something to increase or decrease) reverse/buck the trend (=make a trend go in the opposite direction)
trend towards
Lately there has been a trend towards hiring younger, cheaper employees.
The current trend is towards more part-time employment.
the general trend towards the centralization of political power
A disturbing trend is that victims of violence are getting younger.
The growing trend is for single mothers to bring up children by themselves.
Even so, the underlying trend is positive.
national and international economic trends
the downward trend in the price of gold
Successive presidents have tried to reverse this trend, but without success.
2

set the trend

to start doing something that other people copy:
Larger corporations are setting the trend for better maternity benefits.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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