vend

verb

ˈvend 

vended; vending; vends

transitive verb

1

a

: to sell especially as a hawker or peddler

b

: to sell by means of vending machines

2

: to utter publicly

intransitive verb

: to dispose of something by sale : sell

also : to engage in selling

Synonyms

• deal (in)
• market
• merchandise
• merchandize
• put up
• retail
• sell

Examples of vend in a Sentence

vends snack foods and novelties at fairs

Recent Examples on the Web

This Editorial Board has long demanded a solution and in 2019 Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered that the NYPD and city Parks Department enforce the rules barring unlicensed vending in parks. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 26 May 2025

The study session on sidewalk vending in Los Gatos was the result of Senate Bill 946, legislation that passed the state senate in 2018 that decriminalized sidewalk vending and put limits on the restrictions that cities and towns in California could implement for sidewalk vendors. —Isha Trivedi, The Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2024

And yes, there’s a custom humidor at the center of the room for vending cigars — though smoking is not permitted indoors. —Jordi Lippe-McGraw, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025

Oceanside has issued a total of 10 sidewalk vending licenses, of which five allow food sales, according to a city report. —Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French & Latin; French vendre "to sell," going back to Old French, going back to Latin vēndere, contraction of vēnum dare, literally, "to give for sale" — more at venial, date entry 2

First Known Use

1613, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Kids Definition

vend

verb

ˈvend 

: to offer for sale (as in a vending machine) : sell

vender noun

Legal Definition

vend

intransitive verb

ˈvend 

: to dispose of something by sale : sell

also : to engage in selling

transitive verb

: to sell especially as a hawker or peddler