| 单词 | to sell the family silver |
| 释义 | > as lemmasto sell (off) the family silver colloquial (frequently in negative contexts) to sell (off) the family silver and variants: to dispose of a nation's assets for financial gain (e.g. by selling a company to a foreign owner or privatizing a state-run industry); (now also more generally) to sell or part with a valuable resource or asset for immediate advantage. Cf. sense 2. ΚΠ 1979 Guardian 3 May 17 (headline) By all means sell the stately home, but please don't flog the family silver. 1983 Times 2 Nov. 2/6 We are accused of sacrificing the nation's assets for short-term gain and of selling the family silver to pay current debts. 1991 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 19 May 30 To deal with the debts the aristocratic club [sc. Tottenham Hotspur] is selling the family silver. Gascoigne is..expected to sign for Lazio. 2010 R. Cavalier Power Crisis iii. 80 The long decade of the Howard government sold off what remained of the family silver. < as lemmas |
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