sell down the river

sell down the river
To betray, especially in a manner which causes serious difficulty for the one betrayed.

[T]he Prime Minister was listened to with respect when he replied to Opposition hints that Ethiopia was being sold down the river because Britain was afraid she or her ships might suddenly be attacked by Italian airmen.


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  • sell down the river — To play false, betray • • • Main Entry: ↑sell * * * sell (someone) down the river see ↑sell, 1 • • • Main Entry: ↑river sell (someone) down the river informa …   Useful english dictionary

  • sell down the river — If you sell someone down the river, you betray their trust …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • sell down the river — ► sell down the river informal betray. [ORIGIN: originally with reference to the sale of a troublesome slave to a plantation owner on the lower Mississippi, where conditions were relatively harsher.] Main Entry: ↑river …   English terms dictionary

  • sell down the river — sell (someone) down the river to do something that hurts someone who trusted you. Workers complained that their leaders sold them down the river in the latest contract negotiations. Related vocabulary: sell out someone/something …   New idioms dictionary

  • sell down the river —    If you sell someone down the river, you betray their trust.   (Dorking School Dictionary)    ***    If you sell someone down the river, you betray a person who trusts you.     When the trade union signed the salary agreement, the workers felt… …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • sell down the river — {v. phr.} To give harmful information about someone or something to one s enemies; betray. * /The traitor sold his country down the river to the enemy army./ * /The criminal told the hiding place of his companions and sold them down the river./… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • sell down the river — {v. phr.} To give harmful information about someone or something to one s enemies; betray. * /The traitor sold his country down the river to the enemy army./ * /The criminal told the hiding place of his companions and sold them down the river./… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • sell\ down\ the\ river — v. phr. To give harmful information about someone or something to one s enemies; betray. The traitor sold his country down the river to the enemy army. The criminal told the hiding place of his companions and sold them down the river. Compare:… …   Словарь американских идиом

  • sell down the river — informal my own friends sold me down the river Syn: betray, inform on; be disloyal to, be unfaithful to, double cross, break faith with, stab in the back, sell out; informal tell on, blow the whistle on, squeal on, finger …   Thesaurus of popular words

  • Sell down the river —   If you sell someone down the river, you betray their trust …   Dictionary of English idioms

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