Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - sell

(sells, selling, sold) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. If you sell something that you own, you let someone have it in return for money. I sold everything I owned except for my car and my books... His heir sold the painting to the London art dealer Agnews... The directors sold the business for ?14.8 million... It’s not a very good time to sell at the moment. VERB: V n, V n to n, V n for n, V 2. If a shop sells a particular thing, it is available for people to buy there. It sells everything from hair ribbons to oriental rugs... Bean sprouts are also sold in cans. VERB: V n, V n 3. If something sells for a particular price, that price is paid for it. Unmodernised property can sell for up to 40 per cent of its modernised market value. VERB: V for/at n 4. If something sells, it is bought by the public, usually in fairly large quantities. Even if this album doesn’t sell and the critics don’t like it, we wouldn’t ever change... The company believes the products will sell well in the run-up to Christmas. VERB: V, V adv 5. Something that sells a product makes people want to buy the product. It is only the sensational that sells news magazines. ...car manufacturers’ long-held maxim that safety doesn’t sell. VERB: V n, V 6. If you sell someone an idea or proposal, or sell someone on an idea, you convince them that it is a good one. She tried to sell me the idea of buying my own paper shredder... She is hoping she can sell the idea to clients... An employee sold him on the notion that cable was the medium of the future... You know, I wasn’t sold on this trip in the beginning. VERB: V n n, V n to n, V n on n, V-ed 7. If someone sells their body, they have sex for money. 85 per cent said they would rather not sell their bodies for a living. PHRASE: V and N inflect 8. If someone sells you down the river, they betray you for some personal profit or advantage. He has been sold down the river by the people who were supposed to protect him. PHRASE: V inflects 9. If you sell someone short, you do not point out their good qualities as much as you should or do as much for them as you should. They need to improve their image–they are selling themselves short... PHRASE: V inflects 10. If you talk about someone selling their soul in order to get something, you are criticizing them for abandoning their principles. ...a man who would sell his soul for political viability. PHRASE: V and N inflect c darkgreen]disapproval