peddling


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ped·dle

 (pĕd′l)
v. ped·dled, ped·dling, ped·dles
v.tr.
1.
a. To travel about selling (wares): peddling goods from door to door.
b. To engage in the illicit sale of (narcotics).
2. Informal To seek to disseminate; give out: peddling lies.
v.intr.
1. To travel about selling wares.
2. To occupy oneself with trifles.

[Back-formation from peddler. V., intr., sense 2, probably influenced by piddle.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.peddling - the act of selling goods for a livingpeddling - the act of selling goods for a living
marketing, merchandising, selling - the exchange of goods for an agreed sum of money
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
1853, when peddling was more common in the Western country than it is now, and was attended with considerable danger.
--But to-night he went out a peddling, you see, and I don't see what on airth keeps him so late, unless, may be, he can't sell his head.
Do you pretend to say, landlord, that this harpooneer is actually engaged this blessed Saturday night, or rather Sunday morning, in peddling his head around this town?
Daisy, who was fond of going about peddling kisses, lost her best customer and became bankrupt.
"What can you expect with these peddling Middlemarch papers?" said the Rector.
"Well, just like the little Mexican, he seems to spend his time peddling puzzles.
And he asked in an injured tone what had become of all those old square-topped chaises, with wings sticking out on either side, that used to be drawn by a plough-horse, and driven by a farmer's wife and daughter, peddling whortle-berries and blackberries about the town.
"With that strong body of his he should be at work, and not peddling,"* I answered curtly.
Well had it been if the same quick sense of propriety had attended him in the peddling propensity to which I have formerly alluded - but this was by no means the case.
You with your little peddling no- tions--you are interfering with me.
The Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster has urged Tshwane citizens not take the law into their hands as they tackle alleged drug peddling in sections of the central business district.The JCPS made the plea following protests in the Tshwane CBD.
PPP leaders Syed Hassan Murtaza and Makhdoom Usman Mehmood submitted an adjournment motion with the assembly secretariat calling for a debate on the peddling of drugs in the provincial capital, especially in educational institutions.