auction
Americannoun
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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)
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
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have auctionedperfect
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has auctionedperfect 3rd person singular
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have been auctioningperfect progressive
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is auctioningprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been auctioningperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are auctioningprogressive
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auctionssingular 3rd person
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am auctioningprogressive 1st person singular
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auctioningparticiple
Past
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had auctionedperfect
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was auctioningprogressive singular
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auctionedparticiple
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were auctioningprogressive plural
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auctionedsimple
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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
Unit 1: Telling Details
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Mockingbird
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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.
Meanwhile, investors may focus on the Japanese finance ministry’s auction today of about 600 billion yen of 30-year JGBs.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026
In June 2024, Russia's Litfond auction house listed in its catalogue a second edition of Pushkin's "The Prisoner of the Caucasus", a book corresponding to a copy stolen from the BnF.
From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026
In 2024, Labour's Bell Ribeiro-Addy called for an end to the sale of human remains in auction houses and on social media.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
The most expensive tickets of the night surely went to two individuals who won an auction through MSG’s Garden of Dreams Foundation for a total of $1 million.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
But when the auction finally ended, the tablet wound up selling to the Sixers for almost two million credits.
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.
