fire sale
9
4.2
- noun
- /ˈfaɪər seɪl/
:
venta de liquidación
- That's what this fire sale is about, isn't it?
Just such a weird backdoor fire sale that Intel seems to be running right now.
- Just such a weird backdoor fire sale that Intel seems to be running right now.
Examples
-
Big fire sale on all remaining inventory.
-
The store is having a big fire sale to clear out old inventory before the new products arrive.
-
Starting Monday, I have to have a fire sale.
-
This required them to sell assets, often at fire sale prices.
-
I remember 1997 well; it was a total fire sale in S. Korea.
Blog text (6) -
It's not a stretch to assume that the fire sale is beginning.
Blog text (6) -
For their part, Poles do not want to conduct a fire sale of their national wealth.
Academic text (1991) -
Then the vultures sell off pieces of the business at market rather than at fire sale prices.
Blog text (30) -
Loria's justification for having a fire sale was that the Marlins finished in last place.
Blog text (31) -
The subsequent fire sale drove down the sterling exchange rate and magnified the capital losses incurred by holders of sterling.
Academic text (2012)
Synonyms
4
6.3
A sudden fall in stock or bond prices when many people try to get rid of them
3
4.8
A sale with much lower prices to sell remaining goods when a shop closes
2
3.5
A sale where a shop sells everything at low prices because it is closing
1
3.7
A sale of most goods at low prices when a business closes down
How Cheap
Surface Forms
Morphology
fire + sale
The noun 'sale' preserves its literal sense but 'fire' here is not literally about flame in most uses; it historically referred to sales after fire damage and now signals an urgent, deeply discounted liquidation. A B1 learner knowing the words might guess some connection to an emergency or damage but would not reliably infer the conventional meaning 'very low prices to sell quickly,' so the relation is partially clear but not fully predictable.
Etymology
Fire sale may come from shops that had to sell goods cheaply after a real fire damaged the building, so they held a quick sale. Because the owners needed money fast, the phrase now means 'selling things very cheaply and quickly' in an emergency.