auctioneer
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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auctioneers,
present (3rd person singular)
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auctioneered,
past participle, past
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auctioneering
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
auctioneersimple
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auctioneerssimple
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have auctioneeredperfect
-
has auctioneeredperfect
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am auctioneeringprogressive
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are auctioneeringprogressive
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is auctioneeringprogressive
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have been auctioneeringperfect progressive
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has been auctioneeringperfect progressive
Past
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auctioneeredsimple
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had auctioneeredperfect
-
was auctioneeringprogressive
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were auctioneeringprogressive
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had been auctioneeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of auctioneer
Explanation
An auctioneer is a person who manages an auction, or a public sale at which people can bid on items. It's exciting to win the bidding at an auction and hear the auctioneer shout, "Sold!" It's the job of an auctioneer to organize the goods for sale at an auction, as well as to oversee the bidding, often encouraging bidders to compete with each other to drive the price up. Some auctioneers call out items and prices in a distinctive, rapid, sing-song voice. Auctioneer comes from auction, which has a Latin root: auctionem, "increasing sale or public sale," from augere, "to increase."
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:
Mari’s portfolio already includes the Miami Open tennis tournament, the Frieze art fair and collector-car auctioneer Barrett-Jackson.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Off screen, she worked as a specialist and auctioneer at Lyon & Turnbull, the oldest auction house in Scotland.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
But auctioneer Jim Railton said the cow - part of a wider collection of sculptures - had failed to find a bidder and the comedian was set to keep it as a memento.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Its buyer was the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri, and the seat is to go on exhibition, the auctioneer said.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026
“Big and strong, this one,” the auctioneer declared.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
"It also gives us a bit of comfort as auctioneers that there are still things out there, waiting to be discovered."
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Bagpuss and his friends remained "rightly popular", auctioneers said, with a work showing the famous pink cat with Emily and Professor Yaffle selling for £1,600.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
It marked Manning as one of Scotland's first female auctioneers, and she has since enjoyed a prolific TV career on programmes such as Bargain Hunt and Flog It!.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
"I was surprised, that's it," said Hodara during a phone call with auctioneers after the draw.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026
Onlookers chewed fresh oysters and hot corn as the auctioneers shouted into the air.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
During the heady days of the dot-com bubble, McCormick was CEO of the internet auctioneering house FreeMarkets - amassing wealth as he steered the Pittsburgh-based company to a nearly $500 million acquisition deal in 2004.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 14, 2023
During the heady days of the dot-com bubble, McCormick was CEO of the internet auctioneering house FreeMarkets — amassing wealth as he steered the Pittsburgh-based company to a nearly $500 million acquisition deal in 2004.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 13, 2023
Though he eschews the "homina-homina-homina" patter known in auctioneering as "the chant," the puckish Girardo entertains bids in all four languages from the auction floor, over the telephone and via the Internet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2015
Though he was the picture of fast-talking auctioneering bluster during the event, he says that he “had a rough night” after appraising each gun at the coroner’s office a few weeks ago.
From Slate ● Nov. 12, 2014
“Ay,” said Mail, in the tone of a man who did not agree with everybody as a rule, though he did now; “I knowed a’ auctioneering feller once—a very friendly feller ’a was too.
From Under the Greenwood Tree, or, the Mellstock quire; a rural painting of the Dutch school by Thomas Hardy
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.
