sold
- simple past tense and past participle of sell1.
sell
1- 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.
- 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.
- to engage in selling something.
- to be on sale.
- 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 or for): 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.
- an act or method of selling.
- Stock Exchange. a security to be sold.
- Informal. a cheat; hoax.
- 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.
- sell out,
- to dispose of entirely by selling.
- to betray (an associate, one's country, a cause, etc.); turn traitor: He committed suicide rather than sell out to the enemy.
- sell up, British. to sell out: She was forced to sell up her entire stock of crystal.
- sell short. short(def 49).
- sell (someone) a bill of goods. bill of goods(def 3).
Origin of sell
1Synonyms for sell
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comSynonym study
Antonyms for sell
Examples from the Web for sold
Contemporary Examples of sold
Not only has he not “done Santa in four years,” but he has sold his reindeer as well.
In the early 1900s, fashion forgers often sketched designs they saw in Paris shows and sold reproductions in France and overseas.
Gift cards are sold at kiosks in shopping malls or even websites that catering to this exchange market.
To compare, Lana Del Rey sold over 100,000 copies that same week.
The Biggest Bombs of 2014: ‘Sex Tape,’ Mariah Carey’s Vocals, ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and MoreKevin Fallon
December 19, 2014
On Thursday, Russian bloggers published pictures of empty shelves in stores that once sold electric goods.
Historical Examples of sold
The prices of a few are inserted; sixteen blankets were sold.
A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis MarionWilliam Dobein James
The firm who sold it to me agreed that it should have none of the faults of the old one.
The day she sold Sidney material for a simple white gown, she was very happy.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
He was not rude in words, but oh, so different from the oily people who sold me the things.
The Bacillus of BeautyHarriet Stark
She pretended to be a cleaner and mender of lace, but she sold a good many other things.
The DreamEmile Zola
sold
- the past tense and past participle of sell
- sold on slang uncritically attached to or enthusiastic about
sell
- 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 rewardto sell one's honour
- to promote or facilitate the sale of (objects, property, etc)publicity sells many products
- to induce or gain acceptance ofto sell an idea
- (intr) to be in demand on the marketthese dresses sell well in the spring
- (tr) informal to deceive or cheat
- (tr foll by on) to persuade to accept or approve (of)to sell a buyer on a purchase
- sell down the river informal to betray
- sell oneself
- to convince someone else of one's potential or worth
- to give up one's moral or spiritual standards, etc
- sell short
- informalto disparage or belittle
- financeto sell securities or goods without owning them in anticipation of buying them before delivery at a lower price
Word Origin for sell
Word Origin and History for sold
past tense and past participle of sell (v.); from Old English salde.
sell
Old English sellan "to give, furnish, supply, lend; surrender, give up; deliver to; promise," from Proto-Germanic *saljan "offer up, deliver" (cf. Old Norse selja "to hand over, deliver, sell;" Old Frisian sella, Old High German sellen "to give, hand over, sell;" Gothic saljan "to offer a sacrifice"), ultimately from PIE root *sel- (3) "to take, grasp."
Meaning "to give up for money" had emerged by c.1000, but in Chaucer selle still can mean "to give." Students of Old English learn early that the word that looks like sell usually means "give." An Old English word for "to sell" was bebycgan, from bycgan "to buy."
Slang meaning "to swindle" is from 1590s. The noun phrase hard sell is recorded from 1952. To sell one's soul is from c.1570. Sell-by date is from 1972. To sell like hot cakes is from 1839. Selling-point attested from 1959.
To sell (someone) down the river is first recorded 1927, but probably from or with recollection of slavery days, on notion of sale from the Upper South to the cotton plantations of the Deep South (attested in this literal sense since 1851).
Idioms and Phrases with sold
sell
In addition to the idioms beginning with sell
- sell a bill of goods
- sell down the river
- sell like hot cakes
- sell off
- sell oneself
- sell out
- sell short
- sell someone on
also see:
- hard sell
- like hot cakes, sell