Idiom
sell dearly
Meaning
To make one's opponent pay a very high price to defeat or obtain (a person, unit, vehicle, or territory).
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The team fought hard to sell their victory dearly.”
“The small group of soldiers knew they were outnumbered, but they were determined to sell their position dearly.”
“Though the defenders knew the fortress would eventually fall, they fought with such ferocity that they sold every inch of the ramparts dearly.”
Examples
simple
“The team fought hard to sell their victory dearly.”
contextual
“The small group of soldiers knew they were outnumbered, but they were determined to sell their position dearly.”
complex
“Though the defenders knew the fortress would eventually fall, they fought with such ferocity that they sold every inch of the ramparts dearly.”
Key words
Related idioms
- Updated