Example sentences
zhè这ér儿mài卖shén什me么？
What's sold here?
dōng东xi西mài卖guāng光le了。
Everything's sold out.
The story behind the character
卖
卖 is 出 (to put out) stacked on 买 (to buy). Xu Shen defined it exactly that way: 卖, 出物货也, "to put out goods." Selling is putting things out where a buyer can reach them. The simplified character keeps the 买 at the bottom and drops the rest. Put your goods out and you are selling.