sold

American  

[sohld] / soʊld /

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of sell.

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sold British  

/ səʊld /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of sell

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adjective

1. slang uncritically attached to or enthusiastic about

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• self-sold
  adjective
• well-sold
  adjective
• unsold
  adjective

Explanation

Something that's sold has been exchanged for money. When new neighbors buy the house across the street, you'll see a sign appear in its front yard that says "Sold." Once you sell something, you can describe it as sold, whether it's a sold item at your yard sale, waiting beside the driveway for its buyer to pick it up, or the sold trees at the Christmas tree farm, marked with colored tape. The word sold comes from sell and its root meaning of "offer up or deliver." Offer up the highest bid on a painting at an auction and you'll hear the auctioneer call out, "Sold!"

Example Sentences

Tran bought and sold SpaceX for a 10% return in a matter of a few minutes, and rode a rebound in shares of Tesla when he saw the stock had dropped after SpaceX’s debut.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 14, 2026

They also discussed how she would feel if the stock rose significantly after she sold.

From Barron's • Jun. 13, 2026

“The rule asked whether Strategy sold bitcoin by May 31. Not whether the world discovered it by May 31,” he wrote in one tweet.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 13, 2026

The Ellisons have sold the business, operating under the Showcase Cinemas name, to European theater operator Kinepolis.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2026

Writing is a strange way to make a living, and I had sold many books by the time I was forty but was not making enough money to live on.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen