vend

American  

[vend] / vɛnd /

verb (used with object)

1. to sell as one's business or occupation, especially by peddling.

   to vend flowers at a sidewalk stand.

2. to give utterance to (opinions, ideas, etc.); publish.

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verb (used without object)

1. to engage in the sale of merchandise.

2. to be disposed of by sale.

vend British  

/ vɛnˈdɪʃən, vɛnd /

verb

1. to sell or be sold

2. to sell (goods) for a living

3. rare (tr) to utter or publish (an opinion, etc)

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Other Word Forms

• revend verb (used with object)
• unvendable adjective
• unvended adjective
• vendable adjective
• vendition noun

Etymology

Origin of vend

1610–20; < Latin vendere to sell, contraction of vēnum (or vēnō ) dare to offer for sale; venal

Explanation

When you vend, you sell something — for example, you might have a table at a crafts fair where you vend your line of hand-knit dog clothing. Typically, the verb vend is used when the seller is on the move in some way, setting up a stall in a street fair or hawking homemade cupcakes out of a minivan at high school football games. Another way to use vend is specifically "to sell something out of a machine," like the kind you put a dollar in and get a bag of chips in return. The Latin root is vendere, "to sell."

Example Sentences

The passage of a handful of local laws this year also will make it easier to vend on L.A-area streets, in part by softening penalties for noncompliance with Department of Public Health regulations.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2024

Indigenous hop pickers also took the opportunity to vend their own goods to local Seattleites.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 16, 2022

Mr. Rossi said that he argued in court that the state law overruled city regulations and allowed him to vend in areas that would otherwise be off limits.

From New York Times • Aug. 28, 2020

With no houses to clean, no motorcycle taxis to drive and no markets to vend their wares, many face eviction and starvation.

From Time • Apr. 7, 2020

“Money? No money was stolen. After all, there was no money to steal, for I had not been able to vend even one of these delicacies. He stole the hot dogs. “

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole