sell

1 of 4

verb

ˈsel

sold ˈsōld

; selling

Synonyms of sell next

transitive verb

: to deliver or give up in violation of duty, trust, or loyalty and especially for personal gain : betray

—often used with out

sell out their country

a(1)

: to give up (property) to another for something of value (such as money)

(2)

: to offer for sale

: to give up in return for something else especially foolishly or dishonorably

sold his birthright for a mess of pottage

: to exact a price for

sold their lives dearly

: to deliver into slavery for money

: to give into the power of another

sold his soul to the devil

: to deliver the personal services of for money

: to dispose of or manage for profit instead of in accordance with conscience, justice, or duty

sold their votes

: to develop a belief in the truth, value, or desirability of : gain acceptance for

trying to sell a program to the Congress

: to persuade or influence to a course of action or to the acceptance of something

sell children on reading

: to impose on : cheat

: to cause or promote the sale of

using television advertising to sell cereal

: to make or attempt to make sales to

: to influence or induce to make a purchase

: to achieve a sale of

sold a million copies

intransitive verb

: to dispose of something by sale

thinks now is a good time to sell

: to achieve a sale

also : to achieve satisfactory sales

hoped that the new line would sell

: to have a specified price

sellable

ˈse-lə-bəl

adjective

sell

2 of 4

noun (1)

: a deliberate deception : hoax

: the act or an instance of selling

: something to be sold or caused to be accepted

the new mystery novel was an easy sell

also : someone to whom something is sold

the new purchasing agent was a tough sell

sell

3 of 4

noun (2)

ˈsel

variants or selle

archaic

: saddle

sell

4 of 4

chiefly Scottish variant of self

Phrases

sell down the river

: to betray the faith of

sell short

: to make a short sale

: to fail to value properly : underestimate

Example Sentences

Verb He buys and remodels houses and then sells them at a profit. Stock prices are increasing, so now is a good time to sell. Only a few stores sell that type of equipment.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

While there was a free version of MOSAIC, for-profit software companies purchased nonexclusive licenses to sell and support it. —

David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 17 May 2023 Tesla’s previous plan to sell its vehicles in India fell through last year over tax issues. —

Niharika Sharma, Quartz, 17 May 2023 The impacts of taking wells out of circulation are also felt by a variety of businesses that sell a broad range of well-head services and supplies: seismic analysts, well drillers, refinery operators and manufacturers of metal tubing, mud and cement. —

Louis Sahagún, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2023 Rasby, their mother, and other family members spent hour after hour at her side. Rasby, who also took on all the legal and paperwork tasks for her twin, sold the studio. —

Joanne Kenen, USA TODAY, 17 May 2023 Such things are easy to buy and hard to sell, says Paul Karger. —

Suchita Nayar, BostonGlobe.com, 17 May 2023 Altman explicitly called for licensing of generative A.I. models in his testimony and my suspicion is that the other companies selling access to proprietary A.I. models, such as Anthropic, Microsoft, and Google, will advocate some kind of licensing regime as well. —

Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 16 May 2023 Interior, Comfort, and Cargo The VF8 is sold only as a two-row, five-seater SUV and interior passenger space in both rows is plentiful. —

Austin Irwin, Car and Driver, 16 May 2023 Tickets not sold during the presale will be made available to the general public for purchase at a later date. —

Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 16 May 2023

Noun

The casino gambling legislation, which would have let voters decide on allowing eight destination resorts, including two in North Texas, will always be the toughest sell. —

Gromer Jeffers Jr., Dallas News, 16 May 2023 Burn said that destinations such as the Maldives and Dubai, where homosexuality is a criminal offense, are popular, but without more assurances from the authorities, Saudi Arabia could be a tougher sell. —

Julia Buckley, CNN, 4 May 2023 Just doing what the Europeans do: A big sell for the authorization of new gas infrastructure in Europe is that new systems can be used for transporting hydrogen when hydrogen’s day comes. —

Jeremy Beaman, Washington Examiner, 25 Apr. 2023 There’s one team, though, that could be a tougher sell than the others. —

Theo Mackie, The Arizona Republic, 10 Apr. 2023 With many moviegoers requiring a spectacle before buying a ticket, a film that is shot primarily in office buildings and never actually shows the face of the actor playing Michael Jordan could be a difficult sell. —

Nicole Sperling, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2023 That’s not an easy sell for Democrats (and maybe many Republicans), but at least it’s got some sense of the kind of trading that has been part of legislative processes historically. —

Alan J. Borsuk, Journal Sentinel, 31 Dec. 2022 For that, Saturday’s showdown against Karl Anthony-Towns and a Timberwolves’ squad scrapping to stay in the Western Conference playoff race might be an easier sell. —

Jeff Mcdonald, San Antonio Express-News, 5 Apr. 2023 In the nineteenth century, as wrestling matches became a staple of the American carnival circuit, legitimate competition was not always the easiest sell. —

Dan Greene, The New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sell.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.