auction
Americannoun
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auctions
plural
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Also called public sale. a publicly held sale at which property or goods are sold to the highest bidder.
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Cards.
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(in bridge or certain other games) the competitive bidding to fix a contract that a player or players undertake to fulfill.
verb (used with object)
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auctions,
present (3rd person singular)
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auctioned,
past participle, past
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auctioning
present participle
noun
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a public sale of goods or property, esp one in which prospective purchasers bid against each other until the highest price is reached Compare Dutch auction
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the competitive calls made in bridge and other games before play begins, undertaking to win a given number of tricks if a certain suit is trumps
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See auction bridge
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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auctionsimple
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auctionssimple
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have auctionedperfect
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has auctionedperfect
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am auctioningprogressive
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are auctioningprogressive
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is auctioningprogressive
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have been auctioningperfect progressive
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has been auctioningperfect progressive
Past
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auctionedsimple
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had auctionedperfect
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was auctioningprogressive
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were auctioningprogressive
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had been auctioningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of auction
1585–95; < Latin auctiōn- (stem of auctiō ) an increase, especially in the bidding at a sale, equivalent to auct ( us ) increased, past participle of augēre ( aug- increase + -tus past participle suffix) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
In an auction, items are sold without price tags — whoever bids the highest gets to buy it, whether it’s a painting, a car, or a set of old dishes. You can hold an auction, or auction something. You might have seen auction scenes in classy old movies where the characters bid on paintings by politely raising their hands as the auctioneer calls out a price. Auctions aren’t always high-fallutin’, though — many cities auction off cars they’ve confiscated from criminals.
Vocabulary lists containing auction
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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:
The BBC has contacted the auction house and Ferrari for more information.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
The current record for the highest price paid at auction was an ultra-rare 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, which was sold for $142m in 2022.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Dani Gibson, Sunrisers' captain and most expensive player at the women's auction earlier this year, offered some resistance until her departure for 22 off 16 ended any hope of a fightback.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Meanwhile, an auction of 30-year Treasurys on Thursday resulted in the highest yield since 2001, highlighting U.S. fiscal concerns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
“I asked him if he’d autograph a baseball and hit it over the wall. I told him I’d auction it off. Said we’d split fifty-fifty.”
From "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko
Ferraris often attract some of the highest prices at car auctions.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Last week, the Treasury Department released its quarterly refunding announcement, which laid out the schedule of bond auctions that will be held to raise money for the government over the coming months.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
The company added it first moved from live traditional auctions to 24-hour timed auctions in 2007.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Harding, the sports card collector who is facing a divorce, would swipe and bid in live auctions, many of them card breaks, into the early hours of the morning after his family went to sleep.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Joe still traveled north to those auctions, and he usually drove back with his pickup full of junk.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
A Pacific island leader says there were "no consultations" before the US announced swathes of nearby ocean could be auctioned for deep-sea mining exploration, telling AFP the industry faced strong opposition among his people.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
It allows people to bid, around the clock, on trading cards, designer fashion and instant ramen, auctioned live in high-energy shows within the app.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Apex, the Stegosaurus, was auctioned to Kenneth Griffin, founder and CEO of the hedge fund Citadel.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
During the ceremony, she successfully bid £16,000 for a pair of tickets to see Harry Styles in New York - then immediately returned her prize to be auctioned a second time.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
These were the books captured on the Mars and auctioned off to Dr. Stearns!
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
The seller, it turned out, had been auctioning coins that had been cleaned or artificially altered—a serious flaw that graders flag and collectors shun, rendering the coins nearly impossible to resell at a profit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Amy Winehouse's father must pay just under £1m to two of his daughter's friends after a failed High Court claim over the auctioning of the late singer's items.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
The company also didn’t obtain a court order before selling or auctioning the vehicles, the lawsuit alleges.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
The bank has said it expects the process of auctioning the $563 million rent-regulated portfolio to conclude in early 2026, with a resolution to issues related to the debt during the first half of 2026.
From Barron's ● Jan. 8, 2026
I earned a decent amount of money each month by selling commercial time on my POV channel and by auctioning off any unneeded magic items, armor, or weapons I acquired during my travels.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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.
