sell

For the verb: "to sell"

Simple Past:	sold
Past Participle:	sold

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
sell/sel/

▶verb (past and past part. sold)

• 1 hand over (something) in exchange for money.

  ■ deal in.

  ■ be subject to a specified demand on the market: the book didn't sell well.

  ■ (sell out) sell all of one's stock of something.

  ■ (sell up) Brit. sell all of one's possessions or assets.

  ■ (sell oneself) have sex in exchange for money.

• 2 persuade someone of the merits of.

  ■ (sell someone on) make someone enthusiastic about.

• 3 (sell out) abandon one's principles for reasons of expedience.

  ■ (sell someone out) betray someone for one's own financial or material benefit.

• 4 archaic trick or deceive.

▶noun informal

• 1 an act of selling or attempting to sell.

• 2 Brit. a disappointment.

– phrases
sell someone/thing short fail to recognize or state the true value of someone or something.
sell one's soul (to the devil) be willing to do anything, no matter how wrong it is, to achieve one's objective.

– derivatives
sellable adjective.

– origin OE sellan (v.), of Gmc origin.