sell
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
sells,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sold,
past participle, past
-
selling
present participle
-
to transfer (goods) to or render (services) for another in exchange for money; dispose of to a purchaser for a price.
He sold the car to me for $1000.
- Antonyms:
- buy
-
to deal in; keep or offer for sale.
He sells insurance. This store sells my favorite brand.
-
to make a sale or offer for sale to.
He'll sell me the car for $1000.
-
to persuade or induce (someone) to buy something.
The salesman sold me on a more expensive model than I wanted.
-
to persuade or induce someone to buy (something).
The clerk really sold the shoes to me by flattery.
-
to make sales of.
The hot record sold a million copies this month.
-
to cause to be accepted, especially generally or widely.
to sell an idea to the public.
-
to cause or persuade to accept; convince.
to sell the voters on a candidate.
-
to accept a price for or make a profit of (something not a proper object for such action).
to sell one's soul for political power.
-
to force or exact a price for.
The defenders of the fort sold their lives dearly.
-
Informal. to cheat, betray, or hoax.
verb (used without object)
-
sells,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sold,
past participle, past
-
selling
present participle
-
to engage in selling something.
Investment advisors agree that it’s time to sell.
-
to be sold; to draw sales: The game sold poorly in Japan.
His album is selling well.
The game sold poorly in Japan.
-
to offer something for sale.
I like this house—will they sell?
-
to be employed to persuade or induce others to buy, as a salesperson or a clerk in a store.
One sister is a cashier and the other sells.
-
to have a specific price; be offered for sale at the price indicated (followed by at orfor ).
Eggs used to sell at sixty cents a dozen. This shirt sells for thirty dollars.
-
to be in demand by buyers.
On a rainy day, umbrellas really sell.
-
to win acceptance, approval, or adoption.
Here's an idea that'll sell.
noun
-
an act or method of selling.
Your home could be a profitable sell.
-
Stock Exchange. a security to be sold.
-
Informal. a cheat; hoax.
verb phrase
-
sell out
-
to dispose of entirely by selling.
They sold out of Johnny's brownies before the bake sale was half over.
-
to betray (an associate, one's country, one’s principles, a cause, etc.).
He would never sell out to the enemy.
-
-
sell up to sell out.
She was forced to sell up her entire stock of crystal.
-
sell off to sell, especially at reduced prices, in order to get rid of.
The city is selling off a large number of small lots at public auction.
idioms
-
sell someone a bill of goods, bill of goods.
-
sell short. short.
noun
verb
-
to dispose of or transfer or be disposed of or transferred to a purchaser in exchange for money or other consideration; put or be on sale
-
to deal in (objects, property, etc)
he sells used cars for a living
-
(tr) to give up or surrender for a price or reward
to sell one's honour
-
to promote or facilitate the sale of (objects, property, etc)
publicity sells many products
-
to induce or gain acceptance of
to sell an idea
-
(intr) to be in demand on the market
these dresses sell well in the spring
-
informal (tr) to deceive or cheat
-
to persuade to accept or approve (of)
to sell a buyer on a purchase
-
informal to betray
-
-
to convince someone else of one's potential or worth
-
to give up one's moral or spiritual standards, etc
-
-
-
informal to disparage or belittle
-
finance to sell securities or goods without owning them in anticipation of buying them before delivery at a lower price
-
noun
Synonym Usage
See trade.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sellsimple
-
sellssimple
-
have soldperfect
-
has soldperfect
-
am sellingprogressive
-
are sellingprogressive
-
is sellingprogressive
-
have been sellingperfect progressive
-
has been sellingperfect progressive
Past
-
soldsimple
-
had soldperfect
-
was sellingprogressive
-
were sellingprogressive
-
had been sellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sell
First recorded before 900; Middle English sellen, Old English sellan, originally, “to give,” hence, “to give up (someone) to an enemy, betray, exchange for money”; cognate with Old Norse selja, Low German sellen, Gothic saljan “to give up, sell,” originally, “to cause to take”; akin to Greek heleîn “to take, grasp”
Explanation
To sell is to exchange a thing or a service for money. You could sell lemonade from a table on the sidewalk, or sell hotdogs at a baseball game. When a business or store carries certain products for purchase, they sell those things; a car lot sells automobiles, and a bookstore sells books and magazines. Sometimes people say that an item "sells at" or "sells for" a certain price: "Normally, those candy bars sell for a dollar each." When something sells out, it's totally gone, but when a person sells out, they give up their principles for money or popularity.
Vocabulary lists containing sell
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.
See Examples For:
He was tempted to sell a painting to Camille Pissarro’s cousin, even though Monet had already offered it to someone else.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
He has previously compared trying to solve the housing crisis while continuing to sell social homes to "trying to fill a bath with the plug out".
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
The online platform Rally uses an app to sell shares in vintage Rolexes, Aston Martins, first-edition Harry Potter books and baseball cards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
The more the market fell, the more traders had to sell.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
“You think that I’ve never had pizza? Or worn T-shirts before? They sell them both on the Sands of Asase. I get them delivered through AsamandoEats!”
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
The Toronto-based startup sells AI models to governments and companies in regulated industries, allowing customers to retain control over their data and where the technology is deployed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
The firm - which was majority owned by a private equity company prior to the sale - buys, sells, leases and repairs aircraft, engines and components.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
Agility sells Digit to customers using a subscription model it calls robot-as-a-service.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
“Marvell sells pieces. Lumentum fills the biggest gap.”
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
And there’s Hilda, who is always worried Imre will be robbed because he sells diamond rings on Forty-Seventh Street, and their children, Eva and Ezra, who are too shy to talk.
From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar
Each was run by its namesake: Scotti’s Record Shop, where Mr. Scotti sold me my first record, “Heartbreak Hotel.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Prior owner Andrew Meieran recently sold the building to real estate investment firm Robhana Group.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
Its fortunes have waned over the years, and in 2023 it was sold to a performance-marketing company, an all-too-common fate for many of the publications that once flourished online.
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2026
Tesla sold about 59,000 electric pickup trucks in the U.S. between 2024 and 2025, according to the research firm Cox Automotive.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
They’d sold their last one back to Greg Lippmann two months earlier, in early July.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
It is the latest indication of Tesla’s shift away from selling traditional cars toward autonomous vehicles and robotics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
My mother-in-law died in April and left him $500,000, mostly from selling her small house in Scranton.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
“I would have hated myself for selling out, the way we hate most people for selling out.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
India's stock exchanges even hold a special one-hour trading session for investors who consider buying and selling shares on Diwali auspicious.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
“Not best quality. Somebody’s been selling your Upstairs Cranstons short. Somebody’s been taking advantage. What color do you call it?”
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
