auction block

[ awk-shuhn blok ]

/ ˈɔk ʃən ˌblɒk /

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noun

Also called block. a platform from which an auctioneer sells:The auction block in front of the old courthouse was removed and placed in a slavery exhibit at the state museum.

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Idioms about auction block

put on the auction block, to offer for sale at auction; offer to sell to the highest bidder.Also put on the block.

Origin of auction block

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50

Words nearby auction block

Auckland, Auckland Islands, au contraire, au courant, auction, auction block, auction bridge, auctioneer, auction pinochle, auction pitch, auctorial

How to use auction block in a sentence

It resembled unforgettable images of slaves on the auction block.
Michigan Supreme Court Limits Use of Restraints on Juveniles|by Jodi S. Cohen|July 28, 2021|ProPublica
That year, after Richardson was at the center of a lurid racism and sexual harassment scandal, he announced he was putting the team on the auction block.
The Billionaire Playbook: How Sports Owners Use Their Teams to Avoid Millions in Taxes|by Robert Faturechi, Justin Elliott and Ellis Simani|July 8, 2021|ProPublica
As the author of a 1711 book noted, traders also smeared captives’ skin with palm oil to make them “look smooth, sleek, and young” before sending them to the auction block.
The fascinating and complex rise of palm oil|Purbita Saha|June 29, 2021|Popular-Science
Church bells pealed from St. Catherine of Siena parish one block away.
The Louisiana Racists Who Courted Steve Scalise|Jason Berry|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST

During his trek, Brinsley twice passed within a block of a police stationhouse and he almost certainly saw cops along the way.
Exclusive: Inside a Cop-Killer’s Final Hours|Michael Daly|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Block 3F is slated for release in 2019, but who knows how much that will slip?
New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Fire Its Gun Until 2019|Dave Majumdar|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After walking block after block holding that container, he had suddenly discarded it and was now clutching a gun.
Exclusive: Inside a Cop-Killer’s Final Hours|Michael Daly|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If someone wants to ensure a direct and secure connection, no entity, whether a hotel or otherwise, should be able to block it.
How ‘Ethical’ Hotel Chain Marriott Gouges Guests in the Name of Wi-Fi Security|Kyle Chayka|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Spanish troops did not care to venture past a block of buildings in which were the offices and stores of a British firm.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
The upper block was left a little thicker, the junction or root of the neck necessitating this.
Antonio Stradivari|Horace William Petherick
The long unbroken block had as many and as various stores as are generally spread over the entire area of a town.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
It had been very scanty information and late in its arrival—too late to enable the master manhunter to block the plan.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
How I do wish sometimes to give Ritchie a jog, when there is some stumbling-block that he sticks fast at.
The Daisy Chain|Charlotte Yonge