sell the family silver
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To sell valuable or essential assets, especially to pay off debts
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Bán tài sản quý giá hoặc thiết yếu, đặc biệt là để trả nợ
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: sell inherited precious items
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The company is selling the family silver to stay afloat
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “sell the family silver” mean?
To sell valuable or essential assets, especially to pay off debts Literally: sell inherited precious items
Is “sell the family silver” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.