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sell . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
sell , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
sell in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
sell you have here. The definition of the word
sell will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
sell , as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English sellen , from Old English sellan ( “ give; give up for money ” ) , from Proto-West Germanic *salljan , from Proto-Germanic *saljaną , from Proto-Indo-European *selh₁- . Compare Danish sælge , Swedish sälja , Icelandic selja .
Verb
sell (third-person singular simple present sells , present participle selling , simple past and past participle sold )
( transitive , ditransitive , intransitive ) To transfer goods or provide services in exchange for money .
Synonyms: peddle , vend
She sold her old car very quickly.
I'll sell you three books for a hundred dollars.
Sorry, I'm not prepared to sell .
2013 August 10, “A new prescription ”, in The Economist , volume 408 , number 8848 :No sooner has a drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one. These “legal highs” are sold for the few months it takes the authorities to identify and ban them, and then the cycle begins again.
( ergative ) To be sold.
This old stock will never sell .
The corn sold for a good price.
( transitive ) To promote (a product or service) although not being paid in any direct way or at all.
2016 , “The Fetal Kick Catalyst”, in The Big Bang Theory :Howard: You're gonna feel terrible when I'm in a wheelchair. Which, by the way, would fit easily in the back of this award-winning minivan. Bernadette: Fine, we'll go to the E.R. Just stop selling me on the van. Howard: You're right. It sells itself.
( transitive ) To promote (a particular viewpoint).
My boss is very old-fashioned and I'm having a lot of trouble selling the idea of working at home occasionally.
( transitive ) To betray for money or other things.
( transitive , slang ) To trick , cheat , or manipulate someone.
1605 (first performance), Ben Jonson , Ben: Ionson His Volpone or The Foxe , : [George Eld ] for Thomas Thorppe , published 1607 , →OCLC , (please specify the Internet Archive page) :Then weaues Other crosse-plots New tricks for safety, are sought; They thriue: When, bold, Each tempt's th'other againe, and all are sold .
2011 January 12, Saj Chowdhury, “Blackpool 2-1 Liverpool ”, in BBC :Raul Meireles was the victim of the home side's hustling on this occasion giving the ball away to the impressive David Vaughan who slipped in Taylor-Fletcher. The striker sold Daniel Agger with the best dummy of the night before placing his shot past keeper Pepe Reina.
( transitive , professional wrestling , slang ) To pretend that an opponent's blows or maneuvers are causing legitimate injury; to act.
( Australia , slang , intransitive ) To throw under the bus ; to let down one's own team in an endeavour , especially in a sport or a game .
He's selling !
He really sold in that match.
Antonyms
Derived terms
buy low, sell high buy when it snows(,/ and) sell when it goes cold sell cost of goods sold cross-sell don't sell the skin till you have caught the bear hand-sell hard-sell I have a bridge to sell you long sell mis-sell no-sell panic sell price to sell proverbs should be sold in pairs resell sell against the box sell away sell bargains sell-by date sell by the candle sell dearly sell down , sell down the river sell freezers to Eskimos sell ice to Eskimos sell in May , …and go away , …and stay away , …then go away sell like hot cakes / sell like hotcakes sell off , sell-off sell on sell one's ass sell one's birthright for a mess of pottage sell one's body sell oneself , sell oneself short sell one's life dearly sell one's own grandmother sell one's soul sell one's soul to the Devil sell one's soul to the devil sell order sell out from under sell out , sell-out sell past the close sell refrigerators to eskimos sell salt to a slug sell short sell side sell snow to Eskimos sell someone a bill of goods sell someone a pup sell-sword sell the dummy sell the family silver sell the pass sell-through sell up sell wolf tickets / …woof tickets short sell , short-sell sold again and got the money upsell what wins on Sunday sells on Monday
Descendants
Chinese Pidgin English: sellum , 些林 ( Chinese spelling )
Sranan Tongo: seri
Translations
to agree to transfer goods or provide services for payment
Abkhaz: аҭира ( atira )
Afrikaans: verkoop (af)
Aghwan: 𐔸𐕒𐔲𐕒𐕡𐔳𐔰𐕘𐔴𐕚𐕒𐕡𐕎 ( togudaġesun )
Albanian: shes (sq)
Amharic: መሸጥ ( mäšäṭ )
Arabic: بَاعَ (ar) ( bāʕa )
Egyptian Arabic: باع ( bāʕ )
Moroccan Arabic: باع ( bāʕ )
Armenian: վաճառել (hy) ( vačaṙel ) , ծախել (hy) ( caxel )
Aromanian: vindu
Assamese: বেচ ( bes ) , বিক্ৰী কৰ ( bikri kor )
Asturian: vender
Avar: бичизе ( bičize )
Azerbaijani: satmaq (az)
Bashkir: һатыу ( hatıw )
Basque: saldu (eu)
Belarusian: прадава́ць impf ( pradavácʹ ) , прада́ць pf ( pradácʹ )
Bengali: বেচা (bn) ( beca )
Bhojpuri: बेचल ( bēcal )
Breton: gwerzhañ (br)
Bulgarian: прода́вам (bg) impf ( prodávam ) , прода́м pf ( prodám )
Burmese: ရောင်း (my) ( raung: )
Catalan: vendre (ca)
Cebuano: baligya
Chakma: please add this translation if you can
Chechen: дохка ( doxka )
Cherokee: ᎤᎾᏕᎦ ( unadega )
Chinese:
Cantonese: 賣 / 卖 ( maai6 )
Hokkien: 賣 / 卖 (zh-min-nan) ( māi, bē, bōe )
Mandarin: 賣 / 卖 (zh) ( mài ) , 售 (zh) ( shòu ) , 贩卖 (zh) ( fànmài )
Cornish: gwertha
Czech: prodávat (cs) impf , prodat (cs) pf
Dalmatian: vandro
Danish: sælge (da)
Dutch: verkopen (nl)
Esperanto: vendi
Estonian: müüma
Extremaduran: vendel
Farefare: koose
Faroese: selja
Finnish: myydä (fi)
French: vendre (fr)
Friulian: vendi
Galician: vender (gl)
Georgian: გაყიდვა ( gaq̇idva ) , ვაჭრობა ( vač̣roba )
German: verkaufen (de) , vertreiben (de)
Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌱𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 ( frabugjan )
Greek: πουλάω (el) ( pouláo )
Ancient: πωλέω ( pōléō ) , πιπράσκω ( pipráskō )
Gujarati: વેચવું ( vecvũ )
Haitian Creole: vann
Hawaiian: kūʻai
Hebrew: מכר (he) m ( makhár )
Higaonon: baligya
Hindi: बेचना (hi) ( becnā )
Hungarian: ad (hu) , elad (hu) , pénzzé tesz (hu) , ( to deal in, keep for sale ) árul (hu) , árusít (hu) , kereskedik (hu)
Icelandic: selja (is)
Indonesian: jual (id) , menjual (id)
Ingrian: möövvä
Ingush: дохка ( doxka )
Irish: díol
Italian: vendere (it)
Iu Mien: maaic
Japanese: 売る (ja) ( うる, uru )
Javanese: edol
Kabuverdianu: bende , bendi , vendê
Kabyle: zzenz
Kazakh: сату (kk) ( satu ) , сатпақ болу ( satpaq bolu )
Khmer: លក់ (km) ( lŭək )
Kongo: kuteka
Korean: 팔다 (ko) ( palda ) , 판매하다 (ko) ( panmaehada )
Kumyk: сатмакъ ( satmaq )
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: firotin (ku)
Kyrgyz: сатуу (ky) ( satuu ) , сатып бер- ( satıp ber- )
Ladino:
Hebrew: ב׳ינדיר ( vender )
Latin: vender
Lao: ຂາຍ (lo) ( khāi )
Latgalian: puordūt
Latin: vendō (la)
Latvian: pārdot (lv)
Lithuanian: parduoti (lt)
Lombard: vend (lmo)
Lü: please add this translation if you can
Luxembourgish: verkafen
Macedonian: продава impf ( prodava )
Malay: menjual
Maore Comorian: uudza
Maori: hoko ( with indicator atu )
Marathi: विकणे ( vikṇe )
Mauritian Creole: vande
Mongolian: худалдах (mn) ( xudaldax ) , зарах (mn) ( zarax ) ( Mongolia )
Moore: koose
Norman: vendre
North Frisian: ( Föhr-Amrum ) ferkuupe
Norwegian: selge (no)
Occitan: vénder (oc) , vendre (oc)
Ojibwe: adaawaage
Old Church Slavonic: вѣнити impf ( věniti )
Old Javanese: dol
Oromo: gurguruu
Ossetian: ауӕй кӕнын ( awæj kænyn )
Ottoman Turkish: صاتمق ( satmak )
Papiamentu: bende
Pashto: پلورل (ps) ( plorᶕl )
Persian: فروختن (fa) ( foruxtan )
Piedmontese: vende
Polish: sprzedawać (pl) impf , sprzedać (pl) pf
Portuguese: vender (pt)
Punjabi: ਵੇਚਣਾ ( vecṇā )
Quechua: rantikuy , ranqhay , qhatuy
Rohingya: bes-
Romani: bikinel
Romanian: vinde (ro)
Romansch: vender
Russian: продава́ть (ru) impf ( prodavátʹ ) , прода́ть (ru) pf ( prodátʹ )
Samoan: faʻatau
Sardinian: bèndhere , bendi , bèndiri , bènnere , vèndhere
Scottish Gaelic: reic
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: продавати impf , продати pf
Roman: prodavati (sh) impf , prodati (sh) pf
Shan: please add this translation if you can
Sicilian: vìnniri (scn)
Sinhalese: විකුණනවා ( wikuṇanawā )
Slovak: predávať impf , predať (sk) pf
Slovene: prodajati (sl) impf , prodati pf
Somali: please add this translation if you can
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: pśedawaś impf , pśedaś pf
Spanish: vender (es)
Swahili: kuuza
Swedish: sälja (sv)
Tabasaran: масу тувуб ( masu tuvub )
Tagalog: magbili , ipagbili , ibenta
Tahitian: hoʻo ( with indicator atu )
Tai Dam: ꪄꪱꪥ
Tajik: фурӯхтан (tg) ( furüxtan )
Tamil: வில் (ta) ( vil )
Tatar: сатарга (tt) ( satarga )
Tausug: dagang
Telugu: please add this translation if you can
Tetum: fa'an
Thai: ขาย (th) ( kǎai )
Tibetan: འཚོང ( 'tshong )
Tocharian B: ( causative voice ) plänk-
Tongan: fakatau
Turkish: satmak (tr)
Turkmen: satmak
Tuvan: садар ( sadar ) , саттынар ( sattınar )
Udmurt: вузаны ( vuzany )
Ukrainian: продава́ти (uk) impf ( prodaváty ) , прода́ти pf ( prodáty )
Urdu: بیچنا ( becnā )
Uyghur: ساتماق ( satmaq )
Uzbek: sotmoq (uz)
Venetan: véndar , vénder
Vietnamese: bán (vi)
Walloon: vinde (wa)
Welsh: gwerthu (cy)
White Hmong: please add this translation if you can
Yagnobi: пиронсак ( pironsak )
Yakut: атыылаа ( atıılaa )
Yiddish: פֿאַרקויפֿן ( farkoyfn )
Yoruba: tà
Zhuang: gai
to trick, cheat, or manipulate someone
professional wrestling: to act
Translations to be checked
Noun
sell (plural sells )
An act of selling; sale .
1963 , American Society of Travel Agents, ASTA Travel News , volume 32 , page 55 :Now the easiest sell in traveldom is made even easier.
( figurative , by extension) The promotion of an idea for acceptance.
This is going to be a tough sell .
An easy task .
( colloquial , dated ) An imposition , a cheat ; a hoax ; a disappointment ; anything occasioning a loss of pride or dignity .
1922 , Katherine Mansfield , The Doll's House (Selected Stories, Oxford World's Classics paperback 2002, 354)
What a sell for Lena!
Derived terms
See also
Etymology 2
From French selle , from Latin sella .
Noun
sell (plural sells )
( obsolete ) A seat or stool .
1600 , [Torquato Tasso ], “The Fourth Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne ”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e. , Edward Fairfax ], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. , London: Ar Hatfield, for I Iaggard and M Lownes, →OCLC , stanza 7, page 56 :The tyrant proud frown’d from his loftie cell , [...].
( archaic ) A saddle .
Etymology 3
From Old Saxon seill or Old Norse seil . Cognate with Dutch zeel ( “ rope ” ) , German Seil ( “ rope ” ) .
Noun
sell (plural sells )
( regional , obsolete ) A rope (usually for tying up cattle, but can also mean any sort of rope).
He picked up the sell from the straw-strewn barn-floor, snelly sneaked up behind her and sleekly slung it around her swire while scryingː "dee, dee ye fooking quhoreǃ".
Derived terms
References
Anagrams
Breton
Etymology
From Proto-Celtic *stillom , cognate to Welsh syll and Old Irish sell .
Pronunciation
Noun
sell m
look , glance
Chinese
Etymology
From English sell .
Pronunciation
Verb
sell
( Hong Kong Cantonese ) to sell ; to promote services or products ; to promote a viewpoint
See also
References
Pennsylvania German
Pronoun
sell
that one
Determiner
sell
neuter nominative / accusative singular of seller : that
Declension
Scots
Etymology
From Old English sellan .
Pronunciation
Verb
sell (third-person singular simple present sells , present participle sellin , simple past sellt or sauld , past participle sellt or sauld )
To sell .