selling short


Borrowing shares of stock from a brokerage firm (see broker) and then selling in the expectation that the price of the stock will decline. If it does, the borrower buys them back at a reduced price, returns them to the brokerage, and makes a profit. If it rises, the investor loses money. To sell short is to “short” a stock.

Words Nearby selling short

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

How to use selling short in a sentence

  • A batch of informations had been laid against “respectable bakers” for selling short weight bread; they were fined 11s.

    Yarmouth Notes | Frederick Danby Palmer