peddle

[ped-l] /ˈpɛd l/
verb (used with object), peddled, peddling.
1.
to carry (small articles, goods, wares, etc.) from place to place for sale at retail; hawk.
2.
to deal out, distribute, or dispense, especially in small quantities:
to peddle radical ideas.
3.
to sell (drugs) illicitly.
verb (used without object), peddled, peddling.
4.
to go from place to place with goods, wares, etc., for sale at retail.
5.
to occupy oneself with trifles; trifle.
Origin
1525-35; apparently back formation from peddler; in def. 4, reinforced by piddle
Related forms
repeddle, verb (used with object), repeddled, repeddling.
unpeddled, adjective
Can be confused
pedal, peddle, petal.
Examples from the web for peddle
  • He continued to peddle his wares until unable to walk a few months ago.
  • Regulators also peered into managers' murky fee structures and their often cosy dealings with brokers who peddle their funds.
  • Some of of us have, but apparently not ignorant journalists who parrot what corporate agriculture wants to peddle.
  • Let's say you're trying to peddle some fake flowers.
  • Dole suddenly finds himself trying to peddle a supply-side tax cut to remedy the ailments of a new economy he'll never understand.
  • Bright-eyed bankers peddle ideas for other combinations.
  • There is no doubt that variable annuities are good for those who peddle them.
  • Those who have to peddle goods or search for casual labour are equally well placed.
  • Drug firms are starting to use more sophisticated techniques than a short skirt and a smile to peddle their pills.
  • They aren't convenient to the false distinctions this article is trying to peddle.
British Dictionary definitions for peddle

peddle

/ˈpɛdəl/
verb
1.
to go from place to place selling (goods, esp small articles)
2.
(transitive) to sell (illegal drugs, esp narcotics)
3.
(transitive) to advocate (ideas) persistently or importunately: to peddle a new philosophy
4.
(intransitive) (archaic) to trifle
Word Origin
C16: back formation from pedlar
Word Origin and History for peddle
v.

"to retail," 1837 in modern use, a colloquial back-formation from peddler. Related: Peddled; peddling.