ped ‧ dle /ˈpedl/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: peddler ]
1 . to sell goods to people, especially goods that people disapprove of because they are illegal, harmful, or of not very high quality ⇨ push , deal :
They were accused of peddling drugs.
people who peddle cigarettes to young children
2 . to try to sell things to people, especially by going from place to place:
Farmers come to Seoul to peddle rice.
a door-to-door salesman peddling his wares (=selling his goods)
3 . to try to persuade people to accept an opinion or idea which is wrong or false:
politicians peddling instant solutions to long-standing problems
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ sell to give something to someone in exchange for money:
He sold his motorcycle.
|
The shop sells old furniture.
|
Do you sell books on gardening?
▪ export to send goods to another country to be sold:
Which countries export oil to the United States?
▪ deal in something to buy and sell a particular type of goods as part of your business:
He deals in antiques.
▪ put something up for sale/put something on the market to make something available to be bought:
When the painting was first put up for sale, no one thought that it would be worth so much money.
|
The farm was put up for sale.
▪ sell up British English to sell your house or your business so that you can move to a different place or do something different:
They’re thinking of selling up and moving to Canada.
▪ auction something/sell something at auction to sell things at a special event to the person who offers the most money:
The contents of his home will be auctioned.
▪ flog British English informal to sell something, especially something that is of low quality:
A man at the market was flogging £10 watches.
▪ peddle to sell cheap things in the street. Also used about selling illegal drugs and ↑ pornography :
Street vendors peddled American and British cigarettes.
|
People who peddle drugs to children should be severely punished.
▪ traffic in something to buy and sell large quantities of illegal goods or people:
They trafficked in illegal weapons.
|
The gang were involved in people-trafficking.
|
drug-trafficking