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sell out

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sell

1  [sel] verb, sold, sell⋅ing, noun
Use sell out in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
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.
2. to deal in; keep or offer for sale: He sells insurance. This store sells my favorite brand.
3. to make a sale or offer for sale to: He'll sell me the car for $1000.
4. to persuade or induce (someone) to buy something: The salesman sold me on a more expensive model than I wanted.
5. to persuade or induce someone to buy (something): The clerk really sold the shoes to me by flattery.
6. to make sales of: The hot record sold a million copies this month.
7. to cause to be accepted, esp. generally or widely: to sell an idea to the public.
8. to cause or persuade to accept; convince: to sell the voters on a candidate.
9. 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.
10. to force or exact a price for: The defenders of the fort sold their lives dearly.
11. Informal. to cheat, betray, or hoax.
–verb (used without object)
12. to engage in selling something.
13. to be on sale.
14. to offer something for sale: I like this house—will they sell?
15. 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.
16. to have a specific price; be offered for sale at the price indicated (fol. by at or for): Eggs used to sell at sixty cents a dozen. This shirt sells for thirty dollars.
17. to be in demand by buyers: On a rainy day, umbrellas really sell.
18. to win acceptance, approval, or adoption: Here's an idea that'll sell.
19. sell (someone) a bill of goods. bill of goods (def. 3).
–noun
20. an act or method of selling.
21. Stock Exchange. a security to be sold.
22. Informal. a cheat; hoax.
—Verb phrases
23. sell off, to sell, esp. at reduced prices, in order to get rid of: The city is selling off a large number of small lots at public auction.
24. sell out,
a. to dispose of entirely by selling.
b. to betray (an associate, one's country, a cause, etc.); turn traitor: He committed suicide rather than sell out to the enemy.
25. sell up, British. to sell out: She was forced to sell up her entire stock of crystal.
—Idiom
26. sell short. short (def. 50).
Origin:
bef. 900; ME sellen (v.), OE sellan orig., to give, hence, give up (someone) to an enemy, betray, exchange for money; c. ON selja, LG sellen, Goth saljan to give up, sell, orig., to cause to take; akin to Gk heleîn to take

Related forms:
sell⋅a⋅ble, adjective

Synonyms:
1. exchange, vend. See trade.

Antonyms:
1. buy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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sell   (sěl)   
v.   sold (sōld), sell·ing, sells

v.   tr.

  1. To exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent.

  2. To offer for sale, as for one's business or livelihood: The partners sell textiles.

  3. To give up or surrender in exchange for a price or reward: sell one's soul to the devil.

  4. To be purchased in (a certain quantity); achieve sales of: a book that sold a million copies.

    1. To bring about or encourage sales of; promote: Good publicity sold the product.

    2. To cause to be accepted; advocate successfully: We sold the proposal to the school committee.

  6. To persuade (another) to recognize the worth or desirability of something: They sold me on the idea.

v.   intr.

  1. To exchange ownership for money or its equivalent; engage in selling.

  2. To be sold or be on sale: Grapes are selling high this season.

  3. To attract prospective buyers; be popular on the market: an item that sells well.

  4. To be approved of; gain acceptance.

n.  

  1. The activity or method of selling.

  2. Something that sells or gains acceptance in a particular way: Their program to raise taxes will be a difficult sell.

  3. Slang A deception; a hoax.

  4. To put all of one's goods or possessions up for sale.

  5. Slang To betray one's cause or colleagues: He sold out to the other side.

Phrasal Verb(s):
sell offTo get rid of by selling, often at reduced prices.
sell out

  1. To put all of one's goods or possessions up for sale.

  2. Slang To betray one's cause or colleagues: He sold out to the other side.


Idiom(s):
sell a bill of goods Informal To take unfair advantage of.

Idiom(s):
sell down the river Informal To betray the true trust or faith of.

Idiom(s):
sell short

  1. To contract for the sale of securities or commodities one expects to own at a later date and at more advantageous terms.

  2. To underestimate the true value or worth of: Don't sell your colleague short; she's a smart lawyer.


[Middle English sellen, from Old English sellan, to give, sell.]
sell'a·ble adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
sell (so) out

  1. tv.
    to betray someone. : How could you sell me out like that?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

sell 
O.E. sellan "to give," from P.Gmc. *saljanan (cf. O.N. selja "to hand over, deliver, sell;" O.Fris. sella, O.H.G. sellen "to give, hand over, sell;" Goth. saljan "to offer a sacrifice"), perhaps a causative form of the root of O.E. sala "sale." One of the first things a student of Old English has to learn is that the word that looks like sell usually means "give." Meaning "to give up for money" had emerged by c.1000. An O.E. word for "to sell" was bebycgan, from bycgan "to buy." Slang meaning "to swindle" is from 1597. 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 (someone) down the river is first recorded 1927, but probably from 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). To sell like hot cakes is from 1839.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

sell

To dispose of an asset. Compare buy.


sell out

Selling securities by a broker on behalf of a client when the client has failed to settle a trade in a timely manner. For example, a broker may sell stock when a client has failed to meet a margin call.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: sell
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: sold; sell·ing
transitive verb 1 : to transfer ownership of by sale —compare BARTER, CONVEY, GIVE
2 : to offer for sale intransitive verb : to dispose of something by sale : make a sale —compare DONATE —sell·er noun —sell short : to sell something one does not own : make a short sale
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Idioms & Phrases

sell out

  1. Dispose of entirely by selling. For example, The rancher finally sold out to the oil company, or The tickets to the concert were sold out a month ago. [Late 1700s]

  2. Betray one's cause or colleagues, as in He sold out to the other side. [Slang; late 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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