Meaning & use
sell
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To hand over something to someone in return for money.
Grammar: Takes an object: sell a car; the buyer can follow to or come before the object: sell her the car.
Patterns
- sell something to someone
- sell someone something
- sell something for an amount
She sold her bike to a neighbor for fifty dollars.
They sell fresh bread every morning.
We plan to sell the house next spring.
verbintransitive
To be bought by customers, especially in a stated amount or at a stated price.
Grammar: No object; often with well, fast or an amount: the book sold a million copies.
Patterns
- sell well
- sell for an amount
- sell out
The new toy is selling very well.
The painting sold for two million dollars.
Winter coats sell quickly in October.
verbtransitiveinformal
To persuade someone that something is good or worth accepting.
Grammar: Often with on: sell someone on an idea.
Patterns
- sell someone on something
- sell an idea to someone
She sold the committee on her plan.
It took an hour to sell him on the idea.
The coach tried to sell the players on a new strategy.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To work in the business of offering goods or services for money.
Grammar: Can be used without an object to describe a job: he sells for a living.
Patterns
- sell for a living
- sell insurance
My brother sells insurance for a living.
She sells online and ships worldwide.
He has sold cars for twenty years.
Word forms
| third person singular | sells |
|---|---|
| past tense | sold |
| past participle | sold |
| -ing form | selling |
Common combinations
- sell at a price
- The tickets sell at ten dollars each.
- sell out
- The concert sold out in minutes.
- sell online
- Many small businesses now sell online.
- sell like hot cakes
- The new phones are selling like hot cakes.
- sell for a profit
- They bought the flat and sold it for a profit.
- sell short
- Don't sell yourself short in the interview.
Synonyms and how they differ
- trade
- Trade often means exchanging goods without money or doing business generally, while sell always involves a price.
- vend
- Vend is formal and used for selling goods from a stall or machine, which is narrower than sell.
- market
- Market means to promote and sell a product, so it stresses advertising more than the sale itself.
- peddle
- Peddle suggests selling small goods by going from place to place, and can sound negative when used for ideas.
Opposites
Word family
- seller noun
- a person who sells something
- sale noun
- the act of selling, or a period of reduced prices
- salesperson noun
- a person whose job is selling
- resell verb
- to sell again something you have bought
- sellable adjective
- able to be sold
Commonly confused: sell or sale? sell or cell?
sell vs sale
Sale is the noun for the act or event of selling, while sell is the verb.
sell vs cell
Cell sounds exactly like sell but means a small room or the basic unit of living things.
Practice
Which sentence is correct?
Choose one answer.
Sell is irregular, with sold as both past tense and past participle. 'Selled', 'has sell' and 'sells ... yesterday' are wrong forms.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sell”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.