Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context business English) A formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information used by a business to obtain an advantage over competitors within the same industry or profession. 2 (context business legal English) A formula, practice, device, idea, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information which is not patented and which is used by the owner to obtain an advantage over competitor within the marketplace and is treated in a way that can reasonably be expected to prevent the public or competitors from learning about it except when there is improper access, eavesdropping, data acquisition or theft (where the country's law recognises theft) of that trade secret and where the implementation of the trade secret does not allow reverse engineering.
WordNet
n. a secret (method or device or formula) that gives a manufacturer an advantage over the competition
Wikipedia
A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, commercial method, or compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable by others, and by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over competitors or customers. In some jurisdictions, such secrets are referred to as "confidential information", but are generally not referred to as " classified information" in the United States, since that refers to government secrets protected by a different set of laws and practices.
Trade Secret is a chain of clothing, accessories and home furnishing stores operated by TJX Companies and has 35 stores across Australia as of July 2015.
TJX acquired Trade Secret for AUD$80 million from Gazal Corporation in 2015.
Usage examples of "trade secret".
Yes, the knowledge of fire elixir is a, hmm, trade secret among the priests of Yotha, most commonly used to feed the god's altar fire—.
The concept of keeping a profitable trade secret was entirely foreign to him.