river bed (river beds plural) , riverbed A river bed is the ground which a river flows over. n-count. up-river, upriver. Something that is moving up-river is moving towards the source of a river, from a point down the river.
In economics, the term trade-off is often expressed as an opportunity cost, which is the most preferred possible alternative. A trade-off involves a sacrifice that must be made to get a certain product or experience. A person gives up the opportunity to buy 'good B,' because they want to buy 'good A' instead.
Trade, or commerce, involves the transfer of goods or services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade, barter, saw the direct exchange of goods and services for other goods and services. Barter is trading things without the use of money. Later one side of the barter started to involve precious metals, which gained symbolic as well as practical importance.