short selling

British

noun

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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Separately from the Journal, Ben is writing a book on short selling research firm Hindenburg Resarch, set to be published in 2027.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

Among those with strong views on that theme is prominent investment manager Jim Chanos, best known for past short selling bets on Enron and Tesla.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 16, 2025

Healthcare small-caps and mid-cap consumer finance/lenders are experiencing increased short selling pressure.

From Barron's • Oct. 27, 2025

Some have responded with calls for tighter rules around short selling and social media-fuelled trading.

From BBC • Oct. 22, 2025

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023