to flog the old car

8.9

To sell an old car informally

phrasal verb
/flɒg ði oʊld kɑːr/

: vender el coche viejo

She managed to flog the old car online for a decent price.

Examples

I'm thinking I'll flog the old car and put the money towards a new one.
After months of repairs, he finally decided to flog the old car to a neighbor.
I decided to flog the old car this weekend.
Why don't you flog the old car instead of keeping it?
I'm thinking I'll flog the old car and use the money to buy a motorbike.
After considering my options, I decided to flog the old car for a reasonable price.
He plans to flog the old car at the local market this weekend.

Antonyms

to keep

∞ 1.0

To continue doing something or stay in the same state

to hold on

72 1.6

To keep something instead of selling or giving it away

How Formal

to trade in

32 3.9

to dispose

149 3.4

to hock

Informal

14 8.7

to flog the old car

8.9

to dump

541 2.6

Surface Forms

flog the old car infinitive

flogged the old car past

flogged the old car past participle

flogging the old car present participle

flogs the old car third person singular

Morphology

flog + the + old + car

The expression relies on the informal/slang sense of the verb 'flog' meaning 'to sell', which is not predictable from the literal sense of 'flog' (to beat) nor from the noun phrase 'old car'. A B1 learner who only knows the basic meanings of the constituents would not be able to infer the specialized selling sense, so the overall phrase is idiomatic and unpredictable.

Etymology

Flog the old car uses the British slang flog, which one popular story says came from market sellers who quickly moved old items to new buyers to get cash. So, flog the old car means 'to sell your old car' in an informal or quick way.