卖

Tap the pinyin to hear it

to sell; to betray; to spare no effort; to show off or flaunt

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

买 meaning “buy” + 买 sound ( mǎi )

Components 十买

sell · Heisig RSH #859

needle + 买 buy

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
卖国主义	mài guó zhǔ yì	treason
卖方市场	mài fāng shì chǎng	seller's market
卖面子	mài miàn zi	to show deference to sb by obliging them (or by obliging sb associated with them)
无所不卖	wú suǒ bù mài	to sell anything; to sell everything
卖力气	mài lì qi	to make a living doing manual labor; to give sth all one's got
特卖会	tè mài huì	promotional event; sale
有卖相	yǒu mài xiàng	appealing; attractive (esp. to consumers)
义卖会	yì mài huì	bazaar
以老卖老	yǐ lǎo mài lǎo	variant of 倚老賣老\|倚老卖老[yi3 lao3 mai4 lao3]
大卖场	dà mài chǎng	hypermarket; large warehouse-like self-service retail store
卖风流	mài fēng liú	to exert flirtatious allure; to entice coquettishly
卖本事	mài běn shì	to flaunt a skill; to give display to one's ability; to show off a feat; to vaunt one's tr…
卖关子	mài guān zi	(in storytelling) to keep listeners in suspense; (in general) to keep people on tenterhook…
外卖员	wài mài yuán	food delivery person
小卖部	xiǎo mài bù	kiosk; snack counter; retail department or section inside a larger business
卖国	mài guó	to betray one's country
家居卖场	jiā jū mài chǎng	furniture store; furniture mall
卖家	mài jiā	seller
卖关节	mài guān jié	to solicit a bribe; to accept a bribe
当官不为民做主不如回家卖红薯	dāng guān bù wèi mín zuò zhǔ bù rú huí jiā mài hóng shǔ	if an official does not put the people first, he might as well go home and sell sweet pota…

Characters sharing the sound component 买 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
买 sound part	mǎi	to buy, to purchase; to bribe, to persuade
荬	mǎi	endive; sow-thistle