sell
13 ENTRIES FOUND:
Britannica Dictionary definition of SELL
1
:
to exchange (something) for money
—
opposite buy
[+ object]
-
He sold his car.
-
He buys and remodels houses and then sells them at a profit.
-
She sold him a watch for $20. = She sold a watch to him for $20.
[no object]
-
Stock prices are increasing, so now is a good time to sell.
2
[+ object]
:
to make (something) available to be bought
-
Only a few stores sell that type of equipment.
-
She sells insurance. [=she has the job of selling insurance to people]
-
He is selling his car for $1,000. [=he is offering his car for sale at a price of $1,000]
3
[no object]
:
to be able to be bought for a particular price
— + for or at
-
Those cookies sell for a dollar apiece.
-
All items in the store are selling at half price.
4
a
[no object]
:
to be bought by someone or by many people
-
That house still hasn't sold. [=no one has bought that house]
-
The houses in that neighborhood aren't selling. [=people aren't buying the houses that are for sale in that neighborhood]
-
They hope the new version will sell better than the old one. [=they hope that more people will buy the new version]
-
The dictionary is selling well. [=many people are buying copies of the dictionary]
-
The newest model just didn't sell. [=very few people bought it]
b
[+ object]
— used to say how many copies of something have been sold
-
Their first album sold more than a million copies. [=more than a million copies of the album were bought]
5
:
to cause people to want to buy (something)
:
to cause the sale of (something)
[+ object]
-
His name on the cover sells the book.
[no object]
-
Good advertising sells.
6
[+ object]
:
to persuade someone to accept or approve of (something or someone)
-
He had a difficult time selling his theory to other scientists.
-
You will really have to sell yourself at the interview to get that job.
sell a pup
sell off
[phrasal verb]
sell (something) off
or
sell off (something)
:
to sell (something) especially for a low price in order to get rid of it quickly or to get money that you need
—
see also sell-off
-
He sold off his car so he could move overseas.
-
The family plans to sell some of the property off.
sell on
[phrasal verb]
sell (someone) on (something)
:
to persuade (someone) to be interested in and excited about (something)
— often used as (be) sold on
-
He tried to sell them on the value of the project he was proposing.
-
She wasn't sold on the idea. [=she wasn't convinced that it was a good idea]
sell out
[phrasal verb]
1
a
:
to be bought until no more are available
:
to be entirely sold
-
Tickets to the concert sold out quickly.
-
The book has sold out in stores across the country.
b
:
to sell the entire amount of something
-
Many stores sold out quickly when the book was first published.
-
The concert sold out quickly. [=all the tickets to the concert were quickly bought]
c
be sold out
:
to have sold the entire amount of something
— often + of
-
“Are there any more tickets?” “No, I'm sorry. We're (all) sold out.” [=we've sold all the tickets]
-
The store was sold out of milk again. [=there was no milk at the store because it had all been sold]
d
sell (something) out
or
sell out (something)
:
to sell all of (something)
-
The tickets were (all) sold out quickly. [=all of the tickets were sold quickly]
2
:
to sell all that you own of a business, company, etc.
-
In the end, the other owners forced her to sell out.
3
disapproving
:
to do something that does not agree with your beliefs, values, etc., especially in order to make money
-
Many of the band's fans accused them of selling out when they started appearing in television commercials.
-
The union sees the deal as selling out to management. [=the union sees the deal as going against their principles and favoring management]
4
sell (someone) out
or
sell out (someone)
informal
:
to do something that harms or causes trouble for (someone who trusted you) in order to get something for yourself
:
to betray (someone)
—
see also sellout, sold-out
-
She sold out her accomplices [=she told police who her accomplices were] in exchange for a lower sentence.
sell (someone) down the river
informal
:
to do something that harms (someone who trusted you) especially in order to get something for yourself
:
to betray (someone)
-
I can't believe my best friend would sell me down the river.
sell (someone or something) short
:
to put too low a value on the ability, importance, or quality of (someone or something)
-
Don't sell yourself short. You have some great skills and experience.
-
I think you're selling the book short; it's a lot more interesting than that.
sell up
[phrasal verb] British
:
to sell your possessions, business, etc., especially so that you can move away
-
They were forced to sell up and go out of business.
sell your body
:
to accept money in exchange for sex
sell your soul (to the devil)
:
to gain wealth, success, power, etc., by doing something bad or dishonest
-
He has sold his soul (to the devil) for fame and prosperity.
2
sell
/ˈsɛl/
noun
plural
sells
2
sell
/ˈsɛl/
noun
plural
sells
Britannica Dictionary definition of SELL
[count]
chiefly US
:
something that is sold
— used to say that it is easy or difficult to get people to buy or accept something
— usually singular
—
see also hard sell, soft sell
-
Her new novel was an easy sell. [=her new novel sold well; many people wanted to buy it]
-
We need to raise taxes, but that's a tough sell. [=it's hard to persuade people to accept a tax increase]
