Sell
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sell¹
- /sɛl/
Sounds like cel, cell · Rhymes with -ɛl
Where it comes from
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”), Norwegian Bokmål selge (“to sell”), Norwegian Nynorsk selja, selje (“to sell”), Swedish sälja (“to sell”), Faroese and Icelandic selja (“to sell”), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (saljan, “to pay tribute, make an offer”).
verb sells · selling · sold
- To transfer goods or provide services in exchange for money. She sold her old car very quickly.
- To be sold. This old stock will never sell.
- To promote (a product or service) although not being paid in any direct way or at all. Howard: You're gonna feel terrible when I'm in a wheelchair. Which, by the way, would fit easily in the back of this award-winning minivan. Bernadette: Fine, we'll go to the E.R. Just stop selling me on the van. Howard: You're right. It sells itself.
- To promote (a particular viewpoint). My boss is very old-fashioned and I'm having a lot of trouble selling the idea of working at home occasionally.
- To betray for money or other things.
- To trick, cheat, or manipulate someone. Then weaues Other crosse-plots New tricks for safety, are sought; They thriue: When, bold, Each tempt's th'other againe, and all are sold.
- To pretend that an opponent's blows or maneuvers are causing legitimate injury; to act.
- To throw under the bus; to let down one's own team in an endeavour, especially in a sport or a game. He's selling!
Similar: cheap, flog, hawk, monger, peddle, retail, sell, vend
noun sells
- An act of selling; sale. Now the easiest sell in traveldom is made even easier.
- The promotion of an idea for acceptance. This is going to be a tough sell.
- An easy task.
- An imposition, a cheat; a hoax; a disappointment; anything occasioning a loss of pride or dignity. "Of course a miracle may happen, and you may be a great painter, but you must confess the chances are a million to one against it. It'll be an awful sell if at the end you have to acknowledge you've made a hash of it."
sell²
- /sɛl/
Sounds like cel, cell · Rhymes with -ɛl
Where it comes from
From French selle, from Latin sella.
noun sells · selle
- A seat or stool. The tyrant proud frown’d from his loftie cell, [...].
- A saddle. turning to that place, in which whyleare / He left his loftie steed with golden sell, / And goodly gorgeous barbes, him found not theare [...].
sell³
- /sɛl/
Sounds like cel, cell · Rhymes with -ɛl
Where it comes from
From Old Saxon seill or Old Norse seil. Cognate with Dutch zeel (“rope”), German Seil (“rope”).
noun sells
- A rope (usually for tying up cattle, but can also mean any sort of rope). He picked up the sell from the straw-strewn barn-floor, snelly sneaked up behind her and sleekly slung it around her swire while scryingː "dee, dee ye fooking quhoreǃ".
Sell⁴
proper noun Sells
- A surname.
