To peddle means to travel around selling small items, usually going from place to place or door to door. A street vendor might peddle fresh flowers on a busy corner, while a traveling salesperson might peddle homemade jam at farmers' markets. Picture someone walking through a neighborhood with a cart of goods, calling out what they have to sell.

The word often appears in old stories and historical settings. In Victorian England, people peddled everything from ribbons to kitchen tools. Today, you might see someone peddling handmade bracelets at a craft fair or peddling snacks at a baseball game.

The word also means to promote or spread ideas persistently, especially questionable ones. Someone might peddle conspiracy theories online or peddle gossip around school. When used this way, peddle suggests the ideas are probably not very reliable or valuable, like cheap goods a shady salesperson might try to unload.

Don't confuse peddle with pedal. You pedal a bicycle with your feet, but you peddle goods by selling them. A helpful memory trick: peddle has two d's, like the word waddle, which describes how a traveling salesperson might walk while carrying heavy goods.