peddle
English
Etymology
Back-formation from pedlar. (Compare burgle from burglar.)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpɛdəl/
- Rhymes: -ɛdəl
- Homophones: pedal, petal Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "some dialects" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E.
Verb
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- To sell things, especially door to door or in insignificant quantities.
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 3, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
- My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.
- To sell illegal narcotics.
- (derogatory, figuratively) To spread or cause to spread.
- 2009, Michael John Beashel, Unshackled (page 166)
- Christine walked a dangerous line, peddling gossip about her detested son-in-law.
- 2012, Niamh O'Connor, Taken (page 166)
- Roberts was a drug dealer, nicknamed 'King Krud', who peddled death and misery.
- 2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities: Bladerunner's punishment for killing Reeva Steenkamp is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry [print version: No room for sentimentality in this tragedy, 13 September 2014, p. S22]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport)[1]:
- Yes, there were instances of grandstanding and obsessive behaviour, but many were concealed at the time to help protect an aggressively peddled narrative of [Oscar] Pistorius the paragon, the emblem, the trailblazer.
- 2009, Michael John Beashel, Unshackled (page 166)
Related terms
Translations
to sell things, especially door to door
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to sell illegal narcotics
to spread or cause to spread
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