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

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

He sold his stake in it in 2012, saying he didn’t want to be associated with investments that did not align with his values.

From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026

Gibb discovered her son's bike had been sold for £300 on Snapchat.

From BBC • May 19, 2026

But VinFast only sold around 400,000 bikes last year, compared to Honda's 2.6 million.

From Barron's • May 19, 2026

I haven’t bought or sold property since the National Association of Realtors ruling that decoupled buyer’s and seller’s agent commissions.

From MarketWatch • May 19, 2026

The credit default swaps sold by AIG FP that insured pools of such loans proved to be a good business.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis