Word.ws English Dictionary

sold down the river

sold down the river is the simple past and past participle 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 sold down the river

What is sold down the river the simple past and past participle of?
Sold down the river is the simple past and past participle of sell down the river.

Words near sold down the river in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sold 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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