sold down the river
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Deceived or demoted. From the practice of selling slaves in the upper Southern States to the cotton and sugar plantation owners farther South, and so breaking up families and causing distress.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “sold down the river” mean?
Deceived or demoted. From the practice of selling slaves in the upper Southern States to the cotton and sugar plantation owners farther South, and so breaking up families and causing distress.
Is “sold down the river” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.