[AnAmericanMother]

That's why I rely on the OED and a 1950s-vintage Webster.

The American Heritage dictionary is a piece of trash, much as I admire that estimable history magazine (at least it used to be, back when Bruce Catton was editor).

[NCSteve]

Maybe peddle is English usage.

I remember my mother (doctorate in English education) correcting my usage on a paper once, but the example that sticks out in my mind came from a BBC radio program called “My Word.” The origin of the idiom as related to peddling was somewhat contentious.

Ah well, both origins make sense to me.

[firebrand]

Yes, that is the one: the unabridged Merriam-Webster that was put together in the 1930s and relied upon usage by good authors. They are worth owning. I bought mine for about $80 in the sixties and now they are over $200.

They have many wonderful features that the newer ones don't have, although you would want to update some of the spellings.