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sell down

C1 formal separable transitive
In simple words

To slowly sell shares or investments bit by bit to reduce how much you own.

Meanings

1 C1 formal

To gradually sell portions of a financial stake or holding in order to reduce one's position.

"The fund manager began to sell down its stake in the tech company after the quarterly results disappointed."

Grammar: separable
2 C1 idiomatic neutral

(Archaic/historical) To sell someone, particularly an enslaved person, to a harsher owner as punishment — used in the phrase 'sell down the river'.

"In the American South, being 'sold down the river' meant being sent to the most brutal plantations."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

Primarily a financial term used in investment, banking, and business contexts. Also found in the phrase 'sell someone down the river', which is a separate idiom meaning to betray someone.

Commonly used with

shares stake holdings portfolio position assets

Forms

Base
sell down
I/you/we/they
3rd person
sells down
he/she/it
Past simple
sold down
yesterday
Past participle
sold down
have + pp
-ing form
selling down
continuous

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