sell someone a pup
sell someone a pup verb: to sell something of little worth, pretending that it is something else of greater value.
Verb
sell someone a pup (third-person singular simple present sells someone a pup, present participle selling someone a pup, simple past and past participle sold someone a pup)
- To sell something of little worth, pretending that it is something else of greater value.
- “Yes,” I agreed, “you undoubtedly sold him a pup. Precious mug he must have been to let you. But I suppose, as it was Saturday night, he was pretty busy.”1931, R. Austin Freeman, Pontifax, Son and Thorndyke, published 2003, page 31
- I don't know who sold him the gold prospectus, but whoever did, sold him a pup.2004, Henry De Vere Stacpoole, “Glued”, in The Slayer and Other Tales from the Pulps, page 99
- Synonyms:
- abuse, beglammer, counterfeit, deceive, catch, trap into, dissemble, dissimulate, feign, jiff
Synonyms of sell someone a pup
- beglammer
- counterfeit
- deceive
- catch
- trap into
- dissemble
- dissimulate
- feign
- jiff
- lead astray
Forms of sell someone a pup
| third-person singular present | sells someone a pup |
|---|---|
| present participle | selling someone a pup |
| past participle | sold someone a pup |
| past | sold someone a pup |
Origin of sell someone a pup
From an old swindle, where one would be sold a bag purportedly containing a piglet, but actually containing a puppy. Compare pig in a poke.
Questions about sell someone a pup
- What does sell someone a pup mean?
- Sell someone a pup means to sell something of little worth, pretending that it is something else of greater value.
- What part of speech is sell someone a pup?
- Sell someone a pup is a verb.
- What is the past tense of sell someone a pup?
- The past tense of sell someone a pup is sold someone a pup.
Words near sell someone a pup in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sell someone a pup (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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