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.
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 • Jan. 29, 2026
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
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
Right now, there are hardly any shares left to borrow and sell short.
From Salon • Apr. 17, 2024
Paulson had never encountered a market in which an investor could sell short 25 billion dollars’ worth of a stock or bond without causing its price to move, even crash.
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.
