sell short

English

Alternative forms

• short sell, short-sell, short

Verb

sell short (third-person singular simple present sells short, present participle selling short, simple past and past participle sold short)

1. (transitive, finance) To engage in the process of short selling (selling a stock one does not own on the premise of the stock's price going down).
   • 2011 July 18, John Cassidy, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker‎^[1], →ISSN:

     George Soros famously did this in 1992—selling short some ten billion dollars’ worth of sterling. A few years ago, John Paulson wagered hugely against U.S. mortgage bonds and made several billion dollars.

2. (transitive, sometimes reflexive) To underestimate the value of something; to understate its value.

   Hyponym: sell oneself short

   Near-synonym: undersell

   You're selling it short by not mentioning its bonus features.

Related terms

• short position
• short sale

Translations

finance: to engage in the process of short selling

• Finnish: myydä lyhyeksi, shortata (fi)
• German: leerverkaufen

to sell oneself short — see sell oneself short

to underestimate the value of something — see underestimate

Anagrams

• Shellsort, Shortells, shellsort, short sell, short-sell