co-operative

co-operative co-op‧e‧ra‧tive [kəʊˈɒprətɪv ǁ koʊˈɑːp-] also cooperative noun [countable] COMMERCE ORGANIZATIONS

also co-operative society a company, factory, or organization in which all the people working there own an equal share of it:

• Ten years ago a small group of woodworkers formed a co-operative.

• She founded the Maison Espérance, a co-operative dressmaking business.

agriˌcultural co-ˈoperative COMMERCE FARMING ORGANIZATIONS

a co-operative that brings together and sells the products produced by small farmers:

• Privately owned farms have replaced many agricultural co-operatives.

conˌsumers' co-ˈoperative COMMERCE ORGANIZATIONS

a co-operative that buys goods from a wholesale co-operative and sells them in a shop. Any profit that it makes is divided between the members

ˈcredit co-ˌoperative also ˌsavings and ˈcredit co-ˌoperative COMMERCE FINANCE ORGANIZATIONS

a co-operative that lends money, collected from its members, at low rates of interest; = CREDIT SOCIETY:

• the Tokyo Shinkin bank, an Osaka-based credit co-operative

ˈhousing co-ˌoperative COMMERCE PROPERTY ORGANIZATIONS

in Britain, a co-operative that provides low-cost housing for people to rent:

• a complex of flats to be let by a housing co-operative

inˌdustrial co-ˈoperative COMMERCE MANUFACTURING ORGANIZATIONS

an industrial company that is owned by its employees rather than by outside shareholders:

• The industrial co-operative is particularly unsuited to capital-intensive business.

ˈmarketing co-ˌoperative COMMERCE ORGANIZATIONS

a co-operative where producers of a particular type of goods work together in order to sell them:

• a marketing co-operative in which more than 140 small local producers take part

ˈretail co-ˌoperative COMMERCE ORGANIZATIONS

another name for consumers' co-operative

ˈwholesale co-ˌoperative COMMERCE ORGANIZATIONS

a co-operative owned by a number of consumer co-operatives that buys or produces large quantities of goods and supplies them to its members and to other co-operatives. The profit it makes is shared between the members according to the value of the stock they have bought