COMMON If someone sells their soul for something, they do whatever they need to in order to get that thing, doing things that they considered wrong before. As the Co-operative movement approaches its 150th anniversary, has it sold its soul to commercial pressures? Note: Sometimes people use the longer expression to sell your soul to the devil. His devoted fans thought he had sold his soul to the devil producing such commercial music. Note: There are many stories about people who sold their souls to the devil in return for wealth, success, or pleasure. The most famous is about Dr Faustus, whose story was first told in a book published in Germany in 1587, and later told by writers such as the English writer Marlowe and the German poet Goethe.