sells

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of sell.

   He sells insurance to small businesses across the region.

   The company sells its products in over forty countries.

   Note

   Two kinds of subject can stand before this form: the seller (she sells insurance) and the thing sold (the paperback sells faster than the hardback). In the second, ergative pattern, the goods seem to sell themselves. The form also takes two objects (he sells them a policy) or none (the shop sells online). In slang, someone who sells you is tricking you. The same spelling serves as the noun's plural.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of sell.

   Aggressive sells rarely win loyal customers over the long run.

   Some products are easy sells, while others need months of persuasion.

   Note

   The plural counts pitches as readily as sales: two hard sells, a week of easy sells, an idea that proved a tough sell with voters. The noun's dated colloquial meaning of a hoax or a letdown could be counted too. Older English also had sells that were seats and saddles. Those meanings are now obsolete or archaic and turn up only in old texts.

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