Library / English Dictionary

SELL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: sold   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The activity of persuading someone to buy

Example:

it was a hard sell

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("sell" is a kind of...):

sale (the general activity of selling)

Derivation:

sell (exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent)

sell (do business; offer for sale as for one's livelihood)

sell (be sold at a certain price or in a certain way)

sell (be responsible for the sale of)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Persuade somebody to accept something

Example:

The French try to sell us their image as great lovers

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "sell" is one way to...):

persuade (cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action; twist somebody's arm)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sentence example:

They won't sell the story

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give up for a price or reward

Example:

She sold her principles for a successful career

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "sell" is one way to...):

cede; deliver; give up; surrender (relinquish possession or control over)

Verb group:

betray; sell (deliver to an enemy by treachery)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent

Example:

She sells her body to survive and support her drug habit

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "sell" is one way to...):

change; exchange; interchange (give to, and receive from, one another)

"Sell" entails doing...:

give (transfer possession of something concrete or abstract to somebody)

Verb group:

sell (be sold at a certain price or in a certain way)

Domain category:

commerce; commercialism; mercantilism (transactions (sales and purchases) having the objective of supplying commodities (goods and services))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sell"):

prostitute (sell one's body; exchange sex for money)

move (dispose of by selling)

dispose (give, sell, or transfer to another)

undercut; undersell (sell cheaper than one's competition)

dump; underprice (sell at artificially low prices)

sacrifice (sell at a loss)

wholesale (sell in large quantities)

retail (sell on the retail market)

auction; auction off; auctioneer (sell at an auction)

realise; realize (convert into cash; of goods and property)

clear (sell)

negociate (sell or discount)

scalp (sell illegally, as on the black market)

bootleg (sell illicit products such as drugs or alcohol)

sell short (sell securities or commodities or foreign currency that is not actually owned by the seller, who hopes to cover (buy back) the sold items at a lower price and thus to earn a profit)

remainder (sell cheaply as remainders)

resell (sell (something) again after having bought it)

syndicate (sell articles, television programs, or photos to several publications or independent broadcasting stations)

deaccession (sell (art works) from a collection, especially in order to raise money for the purchase of other art works)

sell off (get rid of by selling, usually at reduced prices)

fob off; foist off; palm off (sell as genuine, sell with the intention to deceive)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sentence examples:

They sell the food to the people

They sell the people the food

Antonym:

buy (obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction)

Derivation:

sell (the activity of persuading someone to buy)

seller (someone who promotes or exchanges goods or services for money)

selling (the exchange of goods for an agreed sum of money)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Do business; offer for sale as for one's livelihood

Example:

The brothers sell shoes

Synonyms:

deal; sell; trade

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "sell" is one way to...):

transact (conduct business)

Verb group:

deal (sell)

sell (be sold at a certain price or in a certain way)

Domain category:

commerce; commercialism; mercantilism (transactions (sales and purchases) having the objective of supplying commodities (goods and services))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sell"):

push (sell or promote the sale of (illegal goods such as drugs))

deal (sell)

black marketeer (deal on the black market)

pyramid (use or deal in (as of stock or commercial transaction) in a pyramid deal)

market (deal in a market)

hawk; huckster; monger; peddle; pitch; vend (sell or offer for sale from place to place)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

sell (the activity of persuading someone to buy)

seller (someone who promotes or exchanges goods or services for money)

selling (the exchange of goods for an agreed sum of money)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Deliver to an enemy by treachery

Example:

The spy betrayed his country

Synonyms:

betray; sell

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "sell" is one way to...):

cozen; deceive; delude; lead on (be false to; be dishonest with)

Verb group:

sell (give up for a price or reward)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sell"):

double cross (betray by double-dealing)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot sell Sue

Sense 6

Meaning:

Be sold at a certain price or in a certain way

Example:

These books sell like hot cakes

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "sell" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Verb group:

sell (exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent)

deal; sell; trade (do business; offer for sale as for one's livelihood)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sell"):

retail (be sold at the retail level)

trade (be traded at a certain price or under certain conditions)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sentence example:

These cars won't sell

Derivation:

sell (the activity of persuading someone to buy)

selling (the exchange of goods for an agreed sum of money)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Be responsible for the sale of

Example:

All her publicity sold the products

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "sell" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

sell (the activity of persuading someone to buy)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Be approved of or gain acceptance

Example:

The new idea sold well in certain circles

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "sell" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Credits

 Context examples: 

This is because most fish caught in developing countries is either sent abroad directly or processed and sold to richer nations.

(Fairer fish trade could fix nutrient deficiencies in coastal countries, SciDev.Net)

This tells me you might be interviewing for a job that focuses on money markets or the selling of goods or services.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Woe was it that his own unworthy brother, when he had fallen, sold his people to the Turk and brought the shame of slavery on them!

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

When she reached the dwarfs’ cottage, she knocked at the door, and cried, “Fine wares to sell!”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

They could not hope to sell such a horse.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I would not sell my horse for a hundred.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Already they have begun to sell part of it, which seems safe enough to them, since they have no reason to think that anyone is interested in the lady’s fate.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When I sell my cloth, quoth he, he who buys may weigh and feel and handle.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Yes, sir, it was I who sold Dr. Barnicot his two statues.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

NOW indeed it would be too late to sell it, but a man of Colonel Brandon's sense!

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)