/seɪl; sel/
n
1 [U] selling or being sold 卖; 出售; 销售
*the sale of cars, clothes, machinery 汽车、服装、机器的销售
* The money was raised by the sale of raffle tickets. 这笔款是通过出售购物彩券筹集的.
2 (a) [C] act of selling sth 卖; 出售; 销售
*I haven't made a sale all week. 我整个星期没有卖出东西.
* She gets
10 commission on each sale. 她每出售一批货可得10英镑的佣金.
(b) sales [pl] amount sold 销售额; 销售量
*vast sales of ice-cream in the hot weather 天热时冰激凌的巨大销量
* Sales are up (ie More goods have been sold) this month. 本月销售量增加.
3 [C] (in a shop, etc) occasion when goods are sold at lower prices than usual （商店等的）廉售, 贱卖
*hold an end-of-season sale 举办季末大减价
* the January sales, ie when many shops reduce their prices 元月大减价
* buy goods at/in the sales 减价期间购物
* [attrib 作定语] sale prices, goods, etc 廉价、廉价货.
4 [U, sing] desire to buy goods; demand 销路; 市场需求
*There's always a ready sale for high-quality furniture. 高档家具总是很畅销.
* They found no sale for their goods, ie could not sell them. 他们的商品没有销路.
5 [C] auction 拍卖.
6 (idm 习语) for sale intended to be sold (usu by or on behalf of the owners) 待售（通常由物主或代理人经手）
*I'm sorry this painting's not for sale. 很抱歉, 这幅画是非卖品.
* She has put her house up for sale. 她的房子现在出售. on sale
(a) (esp of goods in shops, etc) available to be bought （尤指商店等的货物）出售, 上市
*on sale at your local post office 在你们当地邮局出售
* The new model is not on sale in the shops. 这种新款式商店尚未上市.
(b) (US) being offered at a reduced price 廉价出售. (on) ,sale or re`turn (of goods) supplied to a retailer, who can send back without paying for them any items that he does not sell （指货物）批发给零售商, 卖不掉可 退还批发商.

n
[Date: 1000-1100; Language: Old Norse;Origin: sala]
[U and C]
when you sell something
sale of
　The use and sale of marijuana remains illegal.
　Harvey gets a $50 commission every time he makes a sale (=sells something as part of his job) .
　Car salesmen will often bring down the price rather than lose a sale (=fail to sell something) .
　arms sales to Iran
sales
a) [plural]
the total number of products that are sold during a particular period of time
　Britain's retail sales (=all the things sold to the public in shops) jumped 3.2 percent in April.
sales of
　Sales of automobiles are up this year.
　We did not reach our summer sales targets .
　The company no longer releases its sales figures (=how much money it makes or loses from sales) .
in sales
　We grossed more than $500,000 in sales last year.
b)[U]
the part of a company that deals with selling products
　She found a job in sales.
　a sales manager
　a worldwide sales force of 1,100
for sale
available to be bought
　Excuse me, are these for sale?
　There was a 'for sale' sign in the yard.
　Reluctantly, they put the family home up for sale (=made it available to be bought) .
on sale
a) available to be bought in a shop
　A wide range of postcards and other souvenirs are on sale in the visitors' centre.
　Stephen King's new novel will go on sale (=will begin to be sold) next week.
b)especially AmE available to be bought at a lower price than usual
　These gloves were on sale for only $9.
[C]
a period of time when shops sell their goods at lower prices than usual
　Marsdon's department store is having a sale this week.
the sales
BrE (=when all the shops have a sale)
　I picked up some real bargains in the January sales this year.
[C]
an event at which things are sold to the person who offers the highest price
= auction
　a sale of 17th century paintings
sales drive/campaign
when a company makes a special effort to try to increase the amount of its products that it sells
　We launch a new sales campaign this fall.
sales pitch/talk
the things that someone says when they are trying to persuade you to buy something
(on) sale or return
BrE if a shop buys something on sale or return, it can return the goods that it is unable to sell
→bill of sale, jumble sale, point of sale