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1. [intransitive, transitive] COMMERCE to give someone property, assets, goods, services etc in return for money:
• Chrysler plans to raise cash by selling assets.
• Investors are selling more aggressively ahead of quarterly earnings reports.
sell something to somebody• Canada's largest oil and gas concern will be sold to the public through a series of share issues.
sell something for• He was forced to sell the magazine for $29.1 million.
• In most countries, the firm sells its hi-fi equipment under the name Kenwood.
3. sell at/for £100/$3,000 etc COMMERCE to be offered for sale at a particular price:• High-priced desktop computers sell for $20,000 and up.
• Reebok hopes their new promotion will sell the sportswear range.
• Corporate bonds issued this year have sold fast.
• Many companies are developing packaging that both protects the environment and sells.
6. sell yourself to impress people with your abilities and good qualities:• He believes in his company, and he sells himself, marketing his own beliefs.
— see also contract to sell, hard sellsell something ↔ forward phrasal verb [transitive]FINANCE to agree to sell a commodity (= oil, metal, farm product etc) at a fixed price for delivery at a later date:• If you're selling forward 207 tons of gold, you need confidence you're going to produce it.
to sell all or most of an industry, company, business etc, usually at a low price:• He plans to break the company up and sell it off as several independent businesses.
• The privatization of state enterprises will be delayed until they can be sold off at a better price.
— see also sell-offsell on phrasal verb [transitive]1. sell somebody on something to persuade someone to buy a particular thing or support a particular idea:• Many consumers are sold on the company's environmental message.
• With any new product, you have to sell consumers on the idea.
2. sell something on COMMERCE to sell something immediately after buying it:sell on sell something on to somebody• The shares were sold on to another party.
sell out phrasal verb1. [intransitive, transitive] sell something ↔ out FINANCE if an investor or owner of a company sells out, they sell their investments or the company:• Relations between the directors are strained, and shareholders have said they would like to sell out.
sell out to• They announced that they were selling out to a Japanese company.
2. [intransitive] COMMERCE if a shop sells out of a product, it has no more of that particular product left:sell out of• Some retailers had sold out of the new games console within twenty-four hours.
3. [intransitive] if a product, seats at an event, tickets for a journey etc sell out, there is none left:to sell almost everything you own, especially your home or business:• He resigned his job, sold up and bought air tickets for all the family.
1. [countable, singular] a product, idea, service etc that you sell or try to sell:• Despite spending more than £10 million on ads, the product was a tough sell (= difficult to sell ) .
• There was a lack of confidence that the computer would be an easy sell (= easy to sell ) .
2. hard sell when a salesperson uses a lot of pressure to make a customer buy something:• A successful salesperson has to be good at the hard sell.
3. soft sell when someone tries to encourage and persuade a customer to buy something, rather than using a lot of pressure:• The soft sell works in four out of five cases.
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Ⅰ.sell UK US /sel/ verb (sold, sold)► [I or T] COMMERCE, FINANCE to give something to someone else in return for money: »sell securities/shares/stock
»sell a car/company/house
»The 43% owner of the company indicated that it was ready to sell.
sell sth to sb/sth »The partners plan to sell 40% of the company to investors.
sell sb sth »We are going to sell him our car.
sell to sb/sth »The site could be built on if the owners decided to sell to private developers.
sell sth at $10/$100, etc. »It raised $180 million Monday by selling 7.2 million shares at $25 apiece.
sell sth at a loss/markup/profit »The business was sold at an enormous profit.
sell sth for $10/$100, etc. »How much did you sell your house for?
► [I or T] COMMERCE to have something available for people to buy: »sell goods/products/services
»On either bank of the river are specialist shops selling designer clothes, books, music and art.
»Its products are sold in 150 countries.
»We sell directly via a contact sales force.
»sell online/over the internet
► [I or T] COMMERCE, FINANCE to be bought in the quantities or the way specified: sell fast/well »The watches are selling well through the group's retail outlets.
sell at $10/$100, etc. »The stock is currently selling at 11 times earnings estimates.
sell for $10/$100, etc. »The games console will sell for $349.
»The company had problems with overstocking and products that didn't sell.
»The magazine is now selling 225,000 copies a week.
► [I or T] MARKETING to make people want to buy something: »Price and delivery are only two elements of the marketing mix that sells products.
»It's a cliche of advertising to say that ""sex sells"".
► [T] to persuade someone that an idea or plan is a good one, and likely to be successful: »He is trying to sell an idea for a TV comedy.
sell sth to sb »The government sold spending cuts to the public as a way to get the economy growing again.
Ⅱ.sell UK US /sel/ noun [C, usually singular] MARKETING► an act of selling or trying to sell a product or service: a difficult/hard/tough sell »In spite of continuing drought conditions, artificial grass remains a hard sell.
»Fear of unemployment make mortgage protection an easy sell.
► an act of trying to persuade someone that something is a good idea: a hard/difficult/tough sell »Tax breaks for developers to build more-expensive housing would be a tough sell.
► [C] (also sell rating) FINANCE, STOCK MARKET advice to sell shares in a particular company from a broker: »The broker SG Securities is moving its rating to a sell.
»While Merrill has a neutral recommendation, we believe the shares are a sell.
Financial and business terms. 2012.
