I. sell 1 S1 W1 /sel/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle sold /səʊld $ soʊld/)
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: sellan ]
1 . GIVE SOMETHING FOR MONEY [intransitive and transitive] to give something to someone in exchange for money OPP buy :
If you offer him another hundred, I think he’ll sell.
He regrets selling all his old records.
sell something for £100/$50/30p etc
Toni’s selling her car for £700.
sell somebody something
I won’t sell you my shares!
sell something to somebody
The vase was sold to a Dutch buyer.
sell something at a profit/loss (=make or lose money on a sale)
Tony had to sell the business at a loss.
2 . MAKE SOMETHING AVAILABLE [intransitive and transitive] to offer something for people to buy:
Do you sell cigarettes?
a job selling advertising space
sell at/for £100/$50/30p etc (=be offered for sale at £100/$50/30p etc)
Smoke alarms sell for as little as five pounds.
3 . MAKE SOMEBODY WANT SOMETHING [transitive] to make people want to buy something:
Scandal sells newspapers.
sell something to somebody
The car’s new design will help sell it to consumers.
4 . BE BOUGHT [intransitive and transitive] to be bought by people:
Tickets for the concert just aren’t selling.
Her last book sold millions of copies.
All the new houses have been sold.
sell well/badly (=be bought by a lot of people, or very few people)
Anti-age creams always sell well.
5 . sell like hot cakes to sell quickly and in large amounts
6 . IDEA/PLAN [intransitive and transitive] to try to make someone accept a new idea or plan, or to become accepted:
It’s all right for Washington, but will it sell in small-town America?
sell something to somebody
It’s hard for any government to sell new taxes to the electorate.
sell somebody something
managers selling employees the new working hours
be sold on (doing) something (=think an idea or plan is very good)
Joe’s completely sold on the concept.
7 . sell yourself
a) to make yourself seem impressive to other people:
If you want a promotion, you’ve got to sell yourself better.
b) ( also sell your body ) to have sex with someone for money
8 . sell somebody/something short to not give someone or something the praise, attention, or reward that they deserve:
Don’t sell yourself short – tell them about all your qualifications.
9 . sell your soul (to the devil) to agree to do something bad in exchange for money, power etc
10 . sell somebody down the river to do something that harms a group of people who trusted you, in order to gain money or power for yourself
11 . sell your vote American English to take money from someone who wants you to vote for a particular person or plan
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ sell to give something to someone in exchange for money:
He sold his motorcycle.
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The shop sells old furniture.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The gang were involved in people-trafficking.
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drug-trafficking
sell something ↔ off phrasal verb
1 . to sell something, especially for a cheap price, because you need the money or because you want to get rid of it:
After the war, we had to sell off part of the farm.
We sell off leftover cakes before we close.
2 . to sell all or part of an industry or company:
The Leicestershire company has sold off many of its smaller branches to cut debts.
sell out phrasal verb
1 . if a shop sells out of something, it has no more of that particular thing left to sell
be/have sold out
Sorry, we’re sold out.
sell out of
We’ve completely sold out of those shirts in your size, sir.
2 . if products, tickets for an event etc sell out, they are all sold and there are none left:
Wow! Those cakes sold out fast.
be/have sold out
Tonight’s performance is completely sold out.
3 . to change your beliefs or principles, especially in order to get more money or some other advantage – used to show disapproval:
ex-hippies who’ve sold out and become respectable businessmen
4 . to sell your business or your share in a business:
Wyman says he’ll sell out if business doesn’t pick up.
sell out to
The T-mail Co. has sold out to San José-based DMX Inc for an undisclosed sum.
sell up phrasal verb British English
to sell most of what you own, especially your house or your business:
Liz decided to sell up and move abroad.
II. sell 2 BrE AmE noun
a hard/tough sell ( also not an easy sell ) something that it is difficult to persuade people to buy or accept:
This tax increase is going to be a hard sell to voters.
⇨ ↑ hard sell , ↑ soft sell