sell short
Idioms-
Contract for the sale of securities or commodities one expects to own at a later date and at a lower price, as in Selling short runs the risk of a market rise, forcing one to pay more than one expected . [Mid-1800s]
-
sell someone short . Underestimate the true value or worth of someone, as in Don't sell her short; she's a very able lawyer . [First half of 1900s]
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.
The fund is known as a 130/30 fund, and the concept is that if you give me $100, I buy attractive names, then sell short $30 worth of stocks we think will underperform.
From Barron's
To duplicate that return yourself, you would need to buy the highest-momentum stocks and simultaneously sell short an equal dollar amount of the biggest losers.
From MarketWatch
The various floors, or tranches, of subprime mortgage bonds all had one thing in common: The bonds were impossible to sell short.
From Literature
Consider the performance of a hypothetical portfolio that buys the 10% of stocks with the highest betas and sells short the decile of stocks with the lowest betas.
From MarketWatch
The viral clip of the show is the convenient entry point, but it sells short what the gentlemen have built.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
