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Sell
Definitions
- 1 A surname.
- 1 An act of selling; sale.
"Now the easiest sell in traveldom is made even easier."
- 2 A seat or stool. obsolete
"The tyrant proud frown’d from his loftie cell, [...]."
- 3 A rope (usually for tying up cattle, but can also mean any sort of rope). obsolete, regional
"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"."
- 4 the activity of persuading someone to buy wordnet
- 5 The promotion of an idea for acceptance. broadly, figuratively
"This is going to be a tough sell."
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- 6 A saddle. archaic
"turning to that place, in which whyleare / He left his loftie steed with golden sell, / And goodly gorgeous barbes, him found not theare [...]."
- 7 An easy task.
- 8 An imposition, a cheat; a hoax; a disappointment; anything occasioning a loss of pride or dignity. colloquial, dated
""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.""
- 1 To transfer goods or provide services in exchange for money. ditransitive, intransitive, transitive
"She sold her old car very quickly."
- 2 persuade somebody to accept something wordnet
- 3 To be sold. ergative
"This old stock will never sell."
- 4 give up for a price or reward wordnet
- 5 To promote (a product or service) although not being paid in any direct way or at all. transitive
"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."
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- 6 exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent wordnet
- 7 To promote (a particular viewpoint). transitive
"My boss is very old-fashioned and I'm having a lot of trouble selling the idea of working at home occasionally."
- 8 do business; offer for sale as for one's livelihood wordnet
- 9 To betray for money or other things. transitive
- 10 deliver to an enemy by treachery wordnet
- 11 To trick, cheat, or manipulate someone. slang, transitive
"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."
- 12 be sold at a certain price or in a certain way wordnet
- 13 To pretend that an opponent's blows or maneuvers are causing legitimate injury; to act. slang, transitive
- 14 be responsible for the sale of wordnet
- 15 To throw under the bus; to let down one's own team in an endeavour, especially in a sport or a game. Australia, intransitive, slang
"He's selling!"
- 16 be approved of or gain acceptance wordnet
Etymology
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”).
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”).
From French selle, from Latin sella.
From Old Saxon seill or Old Norse seil. Cognate with Dutch zeel (“rope”), German Seil (“rope”).
See also for "sell"
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