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sale

(sāl)

a. The exchange of goods or services for an amount of money or its equivalent; the act of selling: The sale of such a nice house should be easy.

b. A selling of property to the highest bidder; an auction.

2. An offer or arrangement in which goods are sold at a discount: The store has a sale on winter coats.

3. sales

a. The business or activity of selling goods or services: She works in sales.

b. The number of items sold or the amount of money received for a number of items sold: Sales are better than expected.

Idioms:

for sale

Available to customers: a store where pets are for sale.

on sale

1. Available to customers: That vegetable should be on sale at your local grocery.

2. Available to customers at a special discount: Bathing suits are on sale.

[Middle English, from Old English sala, from Old Norse.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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