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short selling

British  

noun

  1. finance the practice of selling commodities, securities, currencies, etc that one does not have in the expectation that falling prices will enable one to buy them in at a profit before they have to be delivered

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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For normal ADRs, Friday’s premium of 29% would have hedge funds buying stocks in Seoul to convert into ADRs while short selling the ADRs in New York.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 26, 2026

Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, on Monday appeared to equate all short selling with market manipulation, prompting traders to say that prosecutors misunderstood the activity.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 4, 2026

The technical Wall Street term for investors short selling space stocks right now is “getting your face ripped off.”

From Barron's May 27, 2026

We have grown accustomed to short selling investment firms publishing detailed reports on companies they believe are fraudulent.

From Barron's Apr. 7, 2026

By short selling, we mean selling a stock that you do not possess, with the intention of buying it later.

From Successful Stock Speculation by Butler, John James

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