From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsellsell1 /sel/ ●●● S1 W1 verb (past tense and past participle sold /səʊld $ soʊld/) 1 give something for money [intransitive, transitive]BBSELL to give something to someone in exchange for money OPP buy If you offer him another hundred, I think he’ll sell. He regrets selling all his old records.sell something for £100/$50/30p etc Toni’s selling her car for £700.sell somebody something I won’t sell you my shares!sell something to somebody The vase was sold to a Dutch buyer.sell something at a profit/loss (=make or lose money on a sale) Tony had to sell the business at a loss.2 make something available [intransitive, transitive]BBSELL to offer something for people to buy Do you sell cigarettes? a job selling advertising spacesell at/for £100/$50/30p etc (=be offered for sale at £100/$50/30p etc) Smoke alarms sell for as little as five pounds.3 make somebody want something [transitive]PERSUADE to make people want to buy something Scandal sells newspapers.sell something to somebody The car’s new design will help sell it to consumers.4 be bought [intransitive, transitive]BBSELL to be bought by people Tickets for the concert just aren’t selling. Her last book sold millions of copies. All the new houses have been sold.sell well/badly (=be bought by a lot of people, or very few people) Anti-age creams always sell well.5 → sell like hot cakes6 idea/plan [intransitive, transitive]ACCEPT to try to make someone accept a new idea or plan, or to become accepted It’s all right for Washington, but will it sell in small-town America?sell something to somebody It’s hard for any government to sell new taxes to the electorate.sell somebody something managers selling employees the new working hoursbe sold on (doing) something (=think an idea or plan is very good) Joe’s completely sold on the concept. 7 → sell yourself8 → sell somebody/something short9 → sell your soul (to the devil)10 → sell somebody down the river11 → sell your voteTHESAURUSsell to give something to someone in exchange for moneyHe sold his motorcycle.The shop sells old furniture.Do you sell books on gardening?export to send goods to another country to be soldWhich countries export oil to the United States?deal in something to buy and sell a particular type of goods as part of your businessHe deals in antiques.put something up for sale/put something on the market to make something available to be boughtWhen the painting was first put up for sale, no one thought that it would be worth so much money.The farm was put up for sale.sell up British English to sell your house or your business so that you can move to a different place or do something differentThey’re thinking of selling up and moving to Canada.auction something/sell something at auction to sell things at a special event to the person who offers the most moneyThe contents of his home will be auctioned.flog British English informal to sell something, especially something that is of low qualityA man at the market was flogging £10 watches.peddle to sell cheap things in the street. Also used about selling illegal drugs and pornographyStreet vendors peddled American and British cigarettes.People who peddle drugs to children should be severely punished.traffic in something to buy and sell large quantities of illegal goods or peopleThey trafficked in illegal weapons.The gang were involved in people-trafficking.drug-trafficking → sell something ↔ off → sell out → sell up→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
sell• Most supermarkets sell a wide range of products - often with special offers and price reductions.• Books that don't sell are sent back to the publishers.• The last model didn't sell as well as they'd expected.• Do they sell brake fluid here?• The company sold Braugh $100,000 worth of computers at discounted rates.• Everyone seemed to be selling chromium picolinate.• Raised in Chicago, Don sold construction services and transferred frequently.• Tom's thinking of selling his motorcycle and buying a new one.• Jackson faces a difficult struggle in selling his proposal to the city council.• It's not just a question of making a good product - we also have to go out and sell it to people.• Vending machines Vending machines usually sell items such as hot or cold drinks chocolate and cigarettes.• Their first album sold millions.• There's no question about it - scandal sells newspapers.• Postcards and souvenirs were being sold outside the cathedral.• If you want, say, a job in customer service, those skills would be important selling points.• We're hoping the house will sell quickly.• It sold shares in an initial public offering in May 1994.• My parents sold the stereo at a garage sale.• The antique buttons are very valuable, and we sell them for £100 and upwards.• The painting was sold to an art gallery in Philadelphia.• Some land was raised, leveled and sold to farmers.• It is illegal to sell tobacco to anyone under the age of 18.• If you can, wait to sell until prices are high.• The handcrafted rocking horses have sold well across the United States.• They don't even sell white heather any more or tell your fortune.sell something to somebody• The school board sold the land to a real estate developer.• The motorcycle's eco-friendly design should help sell it to consumers.sell well/badly• Lower-priced homes continue to sell well.• Do certain products and services sell well?• It is a shame she doesn't sell better.• Swaledale is a traditional cheese of the same era as Wensleydale, which has been revived and is now selling well.• The bikes will also get new suspension and revised styling, even though they continue to sell well.• The year began with 1,400 own label items and finished with nearly 1,900 - all selling well.• He was producing boots that sold well but did not wear well.• Keith's work isn't cheap, but it's selling well in high streets across the world.• A bond that pays a 3. 2 percent coupon will sell well, said Uchiyama from Nikko Investment Trust. be sold on (doing) something• Local merchants aren't sold on banning car traffic from Market Street.• The question then arises, at what price should a Treasury bill be sold on a given day?• Then as in 1973 the lucky letters will be drawn and the tickets will be sold on a one-per-person basis.• But they were sold on a play in the bond market.• Over 100 copies of the books were sold on each occasion.• The magazine will also be sold on newsstands nationwide and offered by subscription.• Anyone wanting to buy a copy, only 100 were printed and of these twenty were sold on the day of publication.• While the price is a strong ace on the Paseo pack, most people will already be sold on its looks.sellsell2 noun → a hard/tough sell → hard sell, soft sellFrom Longman Business Dictionarysellsell1 /sel/ verb (past tense and past participle sold) /səʊldsoʊld/1[intransitive, transitive]COMMERCE to give someone property, assets, goods, services etc in return for moneyChrysler plans to raise cash byselling assets.Investors are selling more aggressively ahead of quarterly earnings reports.sell something to somebodyCanada’s largest oil and gas concern will be sold to the public through a series of share issues.sell something forHe was forced to sell the magazine for $29.1 million.2[transitive]COMMERCE to make something available for people to buyIn most countries, the firm sells its hi-fi equipment under the name Kenwood.3sell at/for £100/$3,000 etcCOMMERCE to be offered for sale at a particular priceHigh-priced desktop computers sell for $20,000 and up.4[transitive]MARKETING to encourage people to buy somethingReebok hopes their new promotion will sell the sportswear range.5[intransitive]COMMERCE to be bought in large quantitiesCorporate bonds issued this year have sold fast.Many companies are developing packaging that both protects the environment and sells.6sell yourself to impress people with your abilities and good qualitiesHe believes in his company, and he sells himself, marketing his own beliefs. → see also contract to sell, hard sell → sell something ↔ forward → sell something → off → sell on → sell out → sell up→ See Verb tablesellsell2 nounMARKETING1[singular] a product, idea, service etc that you sell or try to sellDespite spending more than £10 million on ads, the product was atough sell (=difficult to sell).There was a lack of confidence that the computer would be an easy sell (=easy to sell).2hard sell when a salesperson uses a lot of pressure to make a customer buy somethingA successful salesperson has to be good at the hard sell.3soft sell when someone tries to encourage and persuade a customer to buy something, rather than using a lot of pressureThe soft sell works in four out of five cases.Origin sell Old English sellan 