sell

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to give something to someone in exchange for money

   She sold her old car very quickly.

2. 2
   verb

   to be bought by people; to be available for a price

   These books sell like hot cakes.

3. 3
   verb

   to persuade someone to accept or believe an idea

   I'm having trouble selling the plan to my boss.

4. 4
   noun

   the act of persuading someone to buy something

   It was a hard sell, but the customer finally agreed.

Common collocations

• sell a house Verb + noun
• sell shares Verb + noun

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-. Cognates Cognate with Scots sell (“to sell”), Danish sælge (“to sell”), Faroese, Icelandic selja (“to sell”), Norwegian Bokmål selge (“to sell”), Norwegian Nynorsk selja, selje (“to sell”), Swedish sälja (“to sell”), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (saljan, “to pay tribute, make an offer”).

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