selling short

Cultural  

1. Borrowing shares of stock from a brokerage firm (see broker) and then selling in the expectation that the price of the stock will decline. If it does, the borrower buys them back at a reduced price, returns them to the brokerage, and makes a profit. If it rises, the investor loses money. To sell short is to “short” a stock.

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Example Sentences

Furthermore, sophisticated investors running popular hedge-fund strategies have been selling short shares of cyclical stocks and value stocks to boost their returns.

From MarketWatch • May 28, 2026

Livermore got it right in 1929, selling short before the October crash.

From Barron's • Mar. 1, 2026

"Investment advisers will face more risk when selling short, which will harm investors, market participants, and market efficiency," said its CEO Bryan Corbett.

From Reuters • Oct. 13, 2023

Relying on a mixture of mathematical wizardry and infallible intuition, Rask profits in bull markets and bear markets, leveraging the gains of the Roaring Twenties and selling short just before the Crash of 1929.

From Washington Post • May 17, 2022

With their prearranged plan of defeating the bill at the last moment upon some plausible pretext, the clique in the meantime would be busy selling short.

From Great Fortunes from Railroads by Myers, Gustavus