auction block

noun

Also called block. a platform from which an auctioneer sells: the old courthouse where slaves were sold from the auction block.

Idioms

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for auction block

Historical Examples of auction block

Nothing that he could do would be able to save them from the auction-block.
Slavery and the Constitution
William Ingersoll Bowditch
A slave Kwaque was, as much as if Daughtry had bought him on the auction-block.
Michael, Brother of Jerry
Jack London
It was the auction-block horror that first prompted him to seek freedom.
The Underground Railroad
William Still
My wife and children, dearer to me than my heart's blood, were they made for the auction-block?
The Underground Railroad
William Still
I stood by him on the auction-block; and when I stepped down, they thought they had him sure.
The Underground Railroad
William Still