english
1
general::
sell
to give something to someone in exchange for money:
• He sold his motorcycle. • The shop sells old furniture. • Do you sell books on gardening?
export
to send goods to another country to be sold:
• Which countries export oil to the United States?
deal in something
to buy and sell a particular type of goods as part of your business:
• He deals in antiques.
put something up for sale/put something on the market
to make something available to be bought:
• When 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 different:
• They’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 money:
• The contents of his home will be auctioned.
flog
British English informal to sell something, especially something that is of low quality:
• A man at the market was flogging £10 watches.
peddle
to sell cheap things in the street. Also used about selling illegal drugs and pornography:
• Street 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 people:
• They trafficked in illegal weapons. • The gang were involved in people-trafficking. • drug-trafficking
Longman-Thesaurus
2
general::
In addition to the idioms beginning with SELL, Also see HARD SELL; LIKE HOT CAKES, SELL.
American Heritage Idioms
3
general::
verb ADV. cheaply VERB + SELL be able to, can/could | want to | plan to | try to They are still trying to sell their house. | be expected to, expect to The novel was expected to sell between 1,000 and 1,500 copies. | be willing to | be forced to The company has been forced to sell land to recoup some of the losses. | be/prove difficult to, be/prove hard to The property proved hard to sell. PREP. at We sell these little notebooks at £1 each. | for They sold their house for £147,000. | to She sold her car to a friend. PHRASES buy and sell (sth) Many banks are willing to buy and sell shares on behalf of customers. PHRASAL VERBS sell sth off ADV. cheaply Derelict inner-city sites could be sold off cheaply for housing.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
4
general::
sell out
SELL ALL
2. If a supply of something sells out, there is no more of that thing to buy
• The first issue of the magazine sold out within two days., sell up
UK
to sell your house or company in order to go somewhere else or do something else
• They sold up and retired to the West Country., sell out
SELL ALL
1. to sell all of the supply that you have of something
• We sold out of the T-shirts in the first couple of hours., sell sth off
[ M ]
2. to sell all or part of a business
• The company announced that it would be selling off its hotel business., sell out
SELL BUSINESS
4. to sell your business or part of your business
• They decided to sell out to their competitors., sell (sb) out
[ M ] informal
to not do what you have promised someone you will do or what you should do because you will get more advantages for yourself if you do something else
• French farmers feel they've been sold out by their government in the negotiations.
• They've sold out to the road transport lobby (= done what these people wanted)., sell sth off
[ M ]
1. to charge a low price for something to encourage people to buy it
• They're selling off last year's stock at half price., sell out
SELL ALL
3. [ passive ] When a show or film is sold out, all of the tickets for it have been sold
• We couldn't get seats - the concert was sold out.
Cambridge-Phrasal Verbs
5
general::
verb
retail:
We will sell cars to anyone.
Simple Definitions