peddle
Americanverb (used with object)
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to carry (small articles, goods, wares, etc.) from place to place for sale at retail; hawk.
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to deal out, distribute, or dispense, especially in small quantities.
to peddle radical ideas.
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to sell (drugs) illicitly.
verb (used without object)
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to go from place to place with goods, wares, etc., for sale at retail.
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to occupy oneself with trifles; trifle.
verb
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to go from place to place selling (goods, esp small articles)
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(tr) to sell (illegal drugs, esp narcotics)
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(tr) to advocate (ideas) persistently or importunately
to peddle a new philosophy
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archaic (intr) to trifle
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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peddlesimple
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peddlessimple
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have peddledperfect
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has peddledperfect
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am peddlingprogressive
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are peddlingprogressive
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is peddlingprogressive
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have been peddlingperfect progressive
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has been peddlingperfect progressive
Past
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peddledsimple
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had peddledperfect
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was peddlingprogressive
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were peddlingprogressive
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had been peddlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of peddle
First recorded in 1525–35; apparently back formation from peddler; peddle in def. 5, reinforced by piddle
Explanation
When you peddle something, you go out and try to sell it. It's cute when a little kid peddles his homemade birthday cards around the neighborhood, but if an adult did that it might be annoying. The classic image of someone who peddles is an old-fashioned "peddler" or "tinker" traveling from village to village selling goods. The verb peddle, in fact, comes from the word "peddler," whose origin is a mystery. Any time you sell something by going from place to place, like selling Girl Scout cookies to all your neighbors, you peddle.
Vocabulary lists containing peddle
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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Commonly Confused Words, List 2
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The Circuit
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Embiid urged Sixers season ticket holders not to peddle their seats to flush New Yorkers, as in playoffs past.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
A separate analysis by The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation in California this week showed AI chatbots can peddle misinformation too.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026
Researchers have also warned that X's model -- allowing premium accounts to earn payouts based on engagement -- has turbocharged the financial incentive to peddle false or sensational content.
From Barron's ● Mar. 15, 2026
Eaton for many years has worked to expose people who peddle chlorine dioxide and to report apparent injuries to authorities.
From Salon ● Dec. 15, 2025
Why should a man deliberately plunge outside of history and peddle an obscenity, my mind went on abstractedly.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
"Everything is there. I was stuck here," he told AFP in Karachi, near the well-known Bengali market where he peddles desiccated fish and prawns to make ends meet for $7 to $9 per day.
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
Another witness said she saw Joshua "going at a fair rate" stood up on his peddles beginning to cross the carriageway and that it did not look like he was going to stop.
From BBC ● May 2, 2023
Instead, like most graphers, he peddles his merchandise to a dealer, who in turn hawks it at a significant markup on eBay and other, more obscure autograph marketplaces.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 26, 2023
Rodriguez is Director of Partnerships at Soflo Snacks, a Miami-based company that peddles what he calls "collectibles" in the snack space — "like a physical NFT."
From Salon ● Apr. 6, 2022
Uncle Leang waves one hand back and peddles his bike faster in our direction.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
For the most part, Strong’s day-by-day chronicle of the war’s ups and downs was based on behind-the-scenes gossip and “extras” peddled by Manhattan newsboys.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
In a joint statement with local government officials on Monday, Kaduna state police commissioner Alhaji Muhammad Rabiu described the information as "mere falsehood which is being peddled by conflict entrepreneurs who want to cause chaos".
From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2026
He continued selling autographs at card shows, where he was usually swarmed by fans, and peddled “official” Pete Rose caps, posters, pennants, jerseys and bobbleheads.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2024
Vance’s grandmother, played by Glenn Close, is her own kind of Frankenstein, an amalgamation of every stereotypical mamaw character Hollywood has ever peddled from the Ma Kettle to Granny May Moses.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2024
The poor chap peddled it around Europe, passing out pamphlets at conventions.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Unauthorised peddling, parking and blocking foot traffic were long tolerated informally, but fines are now being enforced -- and city authorities are considering doubling them.
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
Also, a judge has been investigating the business affairs of the prime minister's wife, Begoña Gómez, since 2024, and has proposed she go on trial for misuse of funds and influence peddling.
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
But worse than the price hikes is the unsettling feeling that consumers are being gaslit by tech giants paying lip service to the gaming community while delaying product releases or peddling AI-generated “slop.”
From MarketWatch ● May 23, 2026
Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, said “doomers” peddling worst-case scenarios, lingering anger at social-media companies and negative media coverage have fueled poor sentiment in the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
Household was peddling these deceptive mortgages all over the country.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
