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
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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The Circuit
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Commonly Confused Words, List 2
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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.
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
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
"We are a normal family, but we do have to peddle a lot harder than everyone else to achieve the same," said Danni.
From BBC • Jan. 30, 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
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.
