sell out
Britishverb
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Also (chiefly Brit): sell up. to dispose of (supplies of something) completely by selling
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informal (tr) to betray, esp through a secret agreement
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informal (intr) to abandon one's principles, standards, etc
noun
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informal a performance for which all tickets are sold
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a commercial success
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informal a betrayal
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informal a person who betrays their principles, standards, friends, etc
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Dispose of entirely by selling. For example, The rancher finally sold out to the oil company , or The tickets to the concert were sold out a month ago . [Late 1700s]
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Betray one's cause or colleagues, as in He sold out to the other side . [ Slang ; late 1800s]
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.
Savvy's latest survey of shoppers also found that 66% of Gen Y/Z shoppers said seeing products sell out or go viral made them more likely to buy.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Air conditioning has been in hot demand, with retailers seeing their stock fly off the shelves and units online sell out.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
“Premium tiers sell out and premium prices rise because high-quality engagement demand is concentrating in a scarce set of premium acts,” the analysts said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
Their annual emergence in the Great Smoky Mountains has become so popular that campsites sell out months in advance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
In which a traitor offers to sell out his country for British gold.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
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.
