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]
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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.
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 • Jan. 22, 2026
That could help lift the stock, which may now be being held back as arbitrageurs buy Lennar and sell short Millrose to capture a favorable spread of about 6% on the deal.
From Barron's • Oct. 14, 2025
We underestimate how pleasant the exchange will be—for us and for our counterpart—and sell short our conversational chops.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 13, 2025
It would not be advisable to sell short either Leonard Leo or this Teneo Network, whatever the hell it is.
From Salon • Mar. 18, 2023
The various floors, or tranches, of subprime mortgage bonds all had one thing in common: The bonds were impossible to sell short.
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.
