offer
verb (used with object)
to present for acceptance or rejection; proffer.
offer
American
[aw-fer, of-er]
/ ˈɔ fər, ˈɒf ər /
verb (used with object)
-
offers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
offered,
past participle, past
-
offering
present participle
-
to present for acceptance or rejection; proffer.
He offered me a cigarette.
-
to propose or put forward for consideration.
to offer a suggestion.
-
to propose or volunteer (to do something).
She offered to accompany me.
-
to make a show of intention (to do something).
We did not offer to go first.
-
to give, make, or promise.
She offered no response.
-
to present solemnly as an act of worship or devotion, as to God, a deity or a saint; sacrifice.
-
to present for sale.
He offered the painting to me at a reduced price.
-
to tender or bid as a price.
to offer ten dollars for a radio.
-
to attempt or threaten to do, engage in, or inflict.
to offer battle.
-
to put forth; exert.
to offer resistance.
-
to present to sight or notice.
-
to introduce or present for exhibition or performance.
-
to render (homage, thanks, etc.).
-
to present or volunteer (oneself ) to someone as a spouse.
verb (used without object)
-
offers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
offered,
past participle, past
-
offering
present participle
-
to present itself; occur.
Whenever an opportunity offered, he slipped off to town.
-
to present something as an act of worship or devotion; sacrifice.
-
to make a proposal or suggestion.
-
to suggest oneself to someone for marriage; propose.
-
Archaic. to make an attempt (followed byat ).
noun
-
offers
plural
-
an act or instance of offering.
an offer of help.
-
the condition of being offered.
an offer for sale.
-
something offered.
-
a proposal or bid to give or pay something as the price of something else; bid.
an offer of $90,000 for the house.
-
Law. a proposal that requires only acceptance in order to create a contract.
-
an attempt or endeavor.
-
a show of intention.
-
a proposal of marriage.
offer
1
British
/ ˈɒfə /
verb
-
to present or proffer (something, someone, oneself, etc) for acceptance or rejection
-
(tr) to present as part of a requirement
she offered English as a second subject
-
(tr) to provide or make accessible
this stream offers the best fishing
-
(intr) to present itself
if an opportunity should offer
-
(tr) to show or express willingness or the intention (to do something)
-
(tr) to put forward (a proposal, opinion, etc) for consideration
-
(tr) to present for sale
-
(tr) to propose as payment; bid or tender
-
to present (a prayer, sacrifice, etc) as or during an act of worship
-
(tr) to show readiness for
to offer battle
-
archaic (intr) to make a proposal of marriage
-
(tr; sometimes foll by up or to) engineering to bring (a mechanical piece) near to or in contact with another, and often to proceed to fit the pieces together
noun
-
something, such as a proposal or bid, that is offered
-
the act of offering or the condition of being offered
-
contract law a proposal made by one person that will create a binding contract if accepted unconditionally by the person to whom it is made See also acceptance
-
a proposal of marriage
-
short for offer price
-
for sale at a reduced price
Offer
2
British
/ ˈɒfə /
acronym
Synonym Usage
Offer, proffer, tender mean to present for acceptance or refusal. Offer is a common word in general use for presenting something to be accepted or rejected: to offer assistance. Proffer, with the same meaning, is now chiefly a literary word: to proffer one's services. Tender (no longer used in reference to concrete objects) is a ceremonious term for a more or less formal or conventional act: to tender one's resignation.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
nonoffernoun
-
offerernoun
-
offerornoun
-
preoffernoun
-
reofferverb
-
offerableadjective
-
self-offeredadjective
-
unofferedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
offersimple
-
offerssimple
-
have offeredperfect
-
has offeredperfect
-
am offeringprogressive
-
are offeringprogressive
-
is offeringprogressive
-
have been offeringperfect progressive
-
has been offeringperfect progressive
Past
-
offeredsimple
-
had offeredperfect
-
was offeringprogressive
-
were offeringprogressive
-
had been offeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of offer
First recorded before 900; Middle English offren, Old English offrian “to present in worship,” from Latin offerre, equivalent to of- of- + ferre “to bring”; see bear 1
Explanation
You make an offer when you present your willingness to do something. People selling a house wait for the best offer. One person offers something, and another person accepts or rejects it. It's polite to offer guests something to drink and to offer a friend some space under your umbrella. A marriage proposal is a type of offer. A threat of violence is "an offer you can't refuse" in The Godfather. This word can mean a religious act as well, or — more grossly — the kind of offering a cat makes when it offers a dead mouse to its owner.
Vocabulary lists containing offer
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This year could offer especially good viewing conditions because there is a new moon, meaning there will be no bright moonlight.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Tourette's, she says, can also offer a selection of "superpowers".
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
The news arrives a little more than three months after the video-game retailer made its $56 billion offer to buy eBay, which eBay rejected several days later.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
South Korean conglomerate Hanwha made a nonbinding offer valued at more than $1 billion to buy U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
“But I got an offer of admission. I accepted it.”
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Offer water: Set up a water station separate from the bar so people don't have to queue.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Appeared in the May 2, 2026, print edition as 'China’s ‘Teapot’ Refiners Offer Financial Lifeline to Iran'.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
Offer to look over and send out her résumé.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 25, 2026
“We amended this Offer to address Warner Bros. stated concerns regarding the Prior Proposal and the December 8 Offer,” Paramount said in a Monday Securities & Exchange Commission filing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2025
Offer the berries, they’re worth nothing to him now.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
It took Cameron and Hannah Zirpolo five months, nearly 15 open houses, and six offers to buy a house in Peabody, Mass.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
Public health experts have long advised that the combined shot offers children more protection faster, and also decreases the logistical hurdles for parents who may struggle to make multiple appointments.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
These can be used to produce ethane, propane and butane, and means the gas offers higher margins which is predominantly used for exports.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
For Richard Tur, the founder of NoiseOff, an organization that tracks and offers noise pollution solutions, it doesn’t seem necessary for bystanders to feel a siren “pounding through your body.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
“I saw there’s a watercolor class at the high school that still has space, or a pottery one at the art barn in Ellington Hills,” Mom offers.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
When he confronted her, she offered him a divorce, but refused to return a single penny of the bride price.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Israel, Mexico, Ecuador and France also offered assistance.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
You can think of the road show as Mellencamp’s response to the success of Madonna’s recent Celebration tour, which offered a similar look back by a pop icon long averse to nostalgia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Compared with Arctic dogs, these tropical animals generally remained smaller and more agile, qualities that offered clear advantages in dense forests.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
Just as the witch had said, I could make no requests, only beg and take what was offered.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
An evacuation shelter was opened at Carmel Middle School on Monday evening, and regional hotels are offering discounted rates to evacuees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
During an eclipse, the sky darkens offering a short window to also see the Perseids at the same time.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Intel said it would use proceeds from the offering for general purposes, including capital expenditures and working capital.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Turkish lawmakers on Monday voted through a bill offering limited amnesty for Kurdish PKK militants, a key step in the peace process that seeks to end decades of deadly violence.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
I pulled out the teapot, hoping to give a peace offering to the lieutenant.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
