sold
ˈsōld 
; selling
; selling
1
: to deliver or give up in violation of duty, trust, or loyalty and especially for personal gain : betray
—often used with out
sell out their country
2
a(1)
: to give up (property) to another for something of value (such as money)
(2)
: to offer for sale
b
: to give up in return for something else especially foolishly or dishonorably
sold his birthright for a mess of pottage
c
: to exact a price for
sold their lives dearly
3
a
: to deliver into slavery for money
b
: to give into the power of another
sold his soul to the devil
c
: to deliver the personal services of for money
4
: to dispose of or manage for profit instead of in accordance with conscience, justice, or duty
sold their votes
5
a
: to develop a belief in the truth, value, or desirability of : gain acceptance for
trying to sell a program to the Congress
b
: to persuade or influence to a course of action or to the acceptance of something
sell children on reading
6
: to impose on : cheat
7
a
: to cause or promote the sale of
using television advertising to sell cereal
b
: to make or attempt to make sales to
c
: to influence or induce to make a purchase
8
: to achieve a sale of
sold a million copies
1
: to dispose of something by sale
thinks now is a good time to sell
2
: to achieve a sale
also
: to achieve satisfactory sales
hoped that the new line would sell
3
: to have a specified price
sell
4 of 4chiefly Scottish variant of self
Examples of sell in a Sentence
Verb
He buys and remodels houses and then sells them at a profit.
Stock prices are increasing, so now is a good time to sell.
Only a few stores sell that type of equipment.
Recent Examples on the Web
Katie Jackson, Travel + Leisure, 26 Oct. 2025
Most tickets on the resale market were selling for well north of $1,000 per seat in the days leading up to Game 1.
—Eric Koreen, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Riley Jones, Footwear News, 27 Oct. 2025
The brokerage slashed its rating to the equivalent of sell from neutral, and cut its price target for Berkshire’s Class A shares to $700,000 from $740,000, implying a 5% downside from Friday’s close of $738,500.
—Yun Li, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sell
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Verb
This best-selling wedding band with more than 12,700 five-star ratings is made of a premium, hypoallergenic silicone that is far more flexible than metal.
—Katie Jackson, Travel + Leisure, 26 Oct. 2025
Most tickets on the resale market were selling for well north of $1,000 per seat in the days leading up to Game 1.
—Eric Koreen, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Noun
Nearly 3,000 miles away in the Chinatown district of Los Angeles, buy-and-sell resale shop Syndicate touts the shoe as one of ’25’s most in-demand items.
—Riley Jones, Footwear News, 27 Oct. 2025
The brokerage slashed its rating to the equivalent of sell from neutral, and cut its price target for Berkshire’s Class A shares to $700,000 from $740,000, implying a 5% downside from Friday’s close of $738,500.
—Yun Li, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sell
Cite this Entry
“Sell.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sell. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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