sell out

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

1. To sell all of a product that is in stock.

   Synonym: run out

   They sold out of concert posters yesterday and won't get another shipment until next week.

   • 2021 March 24, Stefanie Foster, “Hidden London: Old Tube on YouTube”, in RAIL, number 927, page 41:

     By the end of July [2020], Brompton Road station was available as a virtual tour and tickets were selling out fast.

2. (intransitive) To abandon or betray one's supporters or principles to seek profit or other personal advantage.

   It used to be a pleasant little community, until the leaders sold out to the developers.

3. (transitive) To betray (a person), usually a close friend or family member, for personal gain.

   I'll kill him if I see him again; he sold me out.

4. To sell one's business (with a connotative emphasis on entirety and finality).

   The owners long resisted buyout offers, but when they were ready to retire, they finally sold out to a competitor.

5. To sell one's commission.
   • 1857, Washington Irving, Life of George Washington, volume 2, page 267:

     After the peace of Versailles he resided in England; but, about three years before the breaking out of the Revolution, he sold out his commission in the army and emigrated to New York.

• sold-out

• outsell