"sell down" meaning in All languages combined

See sell down on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Audio: En-au-sell down.ogg Forms: sells down [present, singular, third-person], selling down [participle, present], sold down [participle, past], sold down [past]
Etymology: From sell + down. Etymology templates: {{com|en|sell|down}} sell + down Head templates: {{en-verb|<,,sold>}} sell down (third-person singular simple present sells down, present participle selling down, simple past and past participle sold down)
  1. (intransitive, British, business) To become less by being sold. Tags: British, intransitive
    Sense id: en-sell_down-en-verb-ZcldBmC1 Categories (other): British English, Business Topics: business
  2. (transitive, British, business) To reduce by selling. Tags: British, transitive Derived forms: selldown [noun] Related terms: sell off [verb], sell out [verb], sell up [verb]
    Sense id: en-sell_down-en-verb-ppELpxID Categories (other): British English, Business, English links with manual fragments Disambiguation of English links with manual fragments: 33 67 Topics: business
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Verb [English]

Audio: En-au-sell down.ogg Forms: sells down [present, singular, third-person], selling down [participle, present], sold down [participle, past], sold down [past]
Etymology: Shortening of sell down the river Head templates: {{en-verb|<,,sold>}} sell down (third-person singular simple present sells down, present participle selling down, simple past and past participle sold down)
  1. (idiomatic) To betray a person; to conspire against someone for personal gain. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-sell_down-en-verb-BYC9C1r5 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English phrasal verbs formed with "down", Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 14 25 61 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs formed with "down": 13 23 64 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 8 22 70 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 7 19 74 Synonyms: sell, sell the pass, sell out, assfuck [Canada, US, vulgar], betray, burn [slang], cop out [idiomatic, slang], cross out [slang], cross up [Canada, US], double-cross, do someone dirty, do the dirty on [Australia, UK, idiomatic], false [obsolete], go back on, knife, let down [idiomatic], play someone false, quisle [rare], renegade [dated], sell, sell the pass [Ireland, idiomatic], sell down the river [idiomatic], sell down [idiomatic], sell out, stab in the back, swike [dialectal, obsolete], traitorize, turncoat
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sell",
        "3": "down"
      },
      "expansion": "sell + down",
      "name": "com"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From sell + down.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sells down",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "selling down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sold down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sold down",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "<,,sold>"
      },
      "expansion": "sell down (third-person singular simple present sells down, present participle selling down, simple past and past participle sold down)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Business",
          "orig": "en:Business",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              59,
              69
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Don't order any potato cakes for 3 days while what we have sells down.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To become less by being sold."
      ],
      "id": "en-sell_down-en-verb-ZcldBmC1",
      "links": [
        [
          "business",
          "business"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, British, business) To become less by being sold."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Business",
          "orig": "en:Business",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "33 67",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English links with manual fragments",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "44 56",
          "tags": [
            "noun"
          ],
          "word": "selldown"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Don't order any potato cakes for 3 days while we sell down our stocks., or"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              49,
              53
            ],
            [
              65,
              69
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Don't order any potato cakes for 3 days while we sell our stocks down.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To reduce by selling."
      ],
      "id": "en-sell_down-en-verb-ppELpxID",
      "links": [
        [
          "business",
          "business"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, British, business) To reduce by selling."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "44 56",
          "tags": [
            "verb"
          ],
          "word": "sell off"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "44 56",
          "tags": [
            "verb"
          ],
          "word": "sell out"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "44 56",
          "tags": [
            "verb"
          ],
          "word": "sell up"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "transitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-sell down.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/En-au-sell_down.ogg/En-au-sell_down.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/En-au-sell_down.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sell down"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_text": "Shortening of sell down the river",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sells down",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "selling down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sold down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sold down",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "<,,sold>"
      },
      "expansion": "sell down (third-person singular simple present sells down, present participle selling down, simple past and past participle sold down)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "14 25 61",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 23 64",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"down\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 22 70",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 19 74",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To betray a person; to conspire against someone for personal gain."
      ],
      "id": "en-sell_down-en-verb-BYC9C1r5",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To betray a person; to conspire against someone for personal gain."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "sell"
        },
        {
          "word": "sell the pass"
        },
        {
          "word": "sell out"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "Canada",
            "US",
            "vulgar"
          ],
          "word": "assfuck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "betray"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "slang"
          ],
          "word": "burn"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic",
            "slang"
          ],
          "word": "cop out"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "slang"
          ],
          "word": "cross out"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "Canada",
            "US"
          ],
          "word": "cross up"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "double-cross"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "do someone dirty"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "Australia",
            "UK",
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "do the dirty on"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "obsolete"
          ],
          "word": "false"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "go back on"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "knife"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "let down"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "play someone false"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "rare"
          ],
          "word": "quisle"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "dated"
          ],
          "word": "renegade"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "sell"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "Ireland",
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "sell the pass"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "sell down the river"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "sell down"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "sell out"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "stab in the back"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "dialectal",
            "obsolete"
          ],
          "word": "swike"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "traitorize"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "turncoat"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-sell down.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/En-au-sell_down.ogg/En-au-sell_down.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/En-au-sell_down.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sell down"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English compound terms",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English links with manual fragments",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs formed with \"down\"",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "noun"
      ],
      "word": "selldown"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sell",
        "3": "down"
      },
      "expansion": "sell + down",
      "name": "com"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From sell + down.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sells down",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "selling down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sold down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sold down",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "<,,sold>"
      },
      "expansion": "sell down (third-person singular simple present sells down, present participle selling down, simple past and past participle sold down)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "verb"
      ],
      "word": "sell off"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "verb"
      ],
      "word": "sell out"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "verb"
      ],
      "word": "sell up"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "en:Business"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              59,
              69
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Don't order any potato cakes for 3 days while what we have sells down.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To become less by being sold."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "business",
          "business"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, British, business) To become less by being sold."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English transitive verbs",
        "en:Business"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Don't order any potato cakes for 3 days while we sell down our stocks., or"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              49,
              53
            ],
            [
              65,
              69
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Don't order any potato cakes for 3 days while we sell our stocks down.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To reduce by selling."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "business",
          "business"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, British, business) To reduce by selling."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "transitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-sell down.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/En-au-sell_down.ogg/En-au-sell_down.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/En-au-sell_down.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sell down"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs formed with \"down\"",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_text": "Shortening of sell down the river",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sells down",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "selling down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sold down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sold down",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "<,,sold>"
      },
      "expansion": "sell down (third-person singular simple present sells down, present participle selling down, simple past and past participle sold down)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To betray a person; to conspire against someone for personal gain."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To betray a person; to conspire against someone for personal gain."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "sell"
        },
        {
          "word": "sell the pass"
        },
        {
          "word": "sell out"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "Canada",
            "US",
            "vulgar"
          ],
          "word": "assfuck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "betray"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "slang"
          ],
          "word": "burn"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic",
            "slang"
          ],
          "word": "cop out"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "slang"
          ],
          "word": "cross out"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "Canada",
            "US"
          ],
          "word": "cross up"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "double-cross"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "do someone dirty"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "Australia",
            "UK",
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "do the dirty on"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "obsolete"
          ],
          "word": "false"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "go back on"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "knife"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "let down"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "play someone false"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "rare"
          ],
          "word": "quisle"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "dated"
          ],
          "word": "renegade"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "sell"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "Ireland",
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "sell the pass"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "sell down the river"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "sell down"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "sell out"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "stab in the back"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "tags": [
            "dialectal",
            "obsolete"
          ],
          "word": "swike"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "traitorize"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:betray",
          "word": "turncoat"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-sell down.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/En-au-sell_down.ogg/En-au-sell_down.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/En-au-sell_down.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sell down"
}

Download raw JSONL data for sell down meaning in All languages combined (5.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-12-23 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-12-02 using wiktextract (6fdc867 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.