selling short

Verb

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

1. (transitive) 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).
   • 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.2011 July 18, John Cassidy, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN
2. (reflexive, sometimes, transitive) To underestimate the value of something; to understate its value.
   • Near-synonym: undersell

   Synonyms:

   underprice, understate, misunderestimate, underapproximate, underestimate, underguess, underjudge, underrate, underreckon, undersell

   Antonyms:

   overstate, overvalue, overapproximate, overestimate, overhold, overrate, overreckon, overthink