Word.ws English Dictionary

selling down the river

selling down the river is the present participle and gerund of sell down the river.

Meaning of sell down the river

Verb

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

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To betray, especially in a manner which causes serious difficulty for the one betrayed.
    • [T]he Prime Minister was listened to with respect when he replied to Opposition hints that Ethiopia was being sold down the river because Britain was afraid she or her ships might suddenly be attacked by Italian airmen.1935 December 23, “Great Britain: Vampire's Caress”, in Time

Questions about selling down the river

What is selling down the river the present participle and gerund of?
Selling down the river is the present participle and gerund of sell down the river.

Words near selling down the river in the dictionary

  1. selling by the candle
  2. selling coal to Newcastle
  3. selling coals to Newcastle
  4. selling dearly
  5. selling down
  6. selling down the river
  7. selling floor
  8. selling freezers to Eskimos
  9. selling ice to Eskimos
  10. selling like hot cakes
  11. selling off

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: selling down the river (page history and authors); sell down the river (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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