bid
verb (used with object)
to command; order; direct.
Showing results for "bid"
- past participle of bide.
bid
1 American
[bid]
/ bɪd /
verb (used with object)
bade,
bad,
bid,
bidden,
bid,
bid,
bidding
-
to command; order; direct.
to bid them depart.
-
to express (a greeting, farewell, benediction, or wish).
to bid good night.
-
Commerce. to offer (a certain sum) as the price one will pay or charge.
They bid $25,000 and got the contract.
-
Cards. to enter a bid of (a given quantity or suit).
to bid two no-trump.
-
to summon by invitation; invite.
verb (used without object)
bade,
bad,
bid,
bidden,
bid,
bid,
bidding
-
to command; order; direct.
I will do as you bid.
-
to make a bid.
She bid at the auction for the old chair.
noun
-
bids
plural
-
an act or instance of bidding.
-
Cards.
-
an offer to make a specified number of points or to take a specified number of tricks.
-
the amount of such an offer.
-
the turn of a person to bid.
-
-
an invitation.
a bid to join the club.
-
an attempt to attain some goal or purpose.
a bid for election.
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Also called bid price. Stock Exchange. the highest price a prospective buyer is willing to pay for a security at a given moment.
verb phrase
-
bid up to increase the market price of by increasing bids.
-
bid in to overbid all offers for (property) at an auction in order to retain ownership.
idioms
bid
2
American
[bid]
/ bɪd /
verb
Archaic.
b.i.d.
3
American
abbreviation
B.I.D.
4
American
abbreviation
bid
1
British
/ bɪd /
verb
-
to offer (an amount) in attempting to buy something, esp in competition with others as at an auction
-
commerce to respond to an offer by a seller by stating (the more favourable terms) on which one is willing to make a purchase
-
(tr) to say (a greeting, blessing, etc)
to bid farewell
-
to order; command
do as you are bid!
-
to attempt to attain power, etc
-
(tr) to invite; ask kindly
she bade him sit down
-
bridge to declare in the auction before play how many tricks one expects to make
-
to resist boldly
-
to seem probable
noun
-
-
an offer of a specified amount, as at an auction
-
the price offered
-
-
commerce
-
a statement by a buyer, in response to an offer by a seller, of the more favourable terms that would be acceptable
-
the price or other terms so stated
-
-
an attempt, esp an attempt to attain power
-
bridge
-
the number of tricks a player undertakes to make
-
a player's turn to make a bid
-
-
short for bid price
b.i.d.
2
British
abbreviation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of bid1
before 900; Middle English bidden, Old English biddan to beg, ask; cognate with Old Frisian bidda, Old Saxon biddian, Old High German bittan ( German bitten ), Old Norse bithja, Gothic bidjan; all < Germanic *bid-ja- (< Indo-European *bhidh- ) command, akin to Greek peíthein to persuade, inspire with trust, English bide
Origin of b.i.d.3
From Latin bis in diē
Explanation
If you make the winning bid on an item, you offer the highest price and get to take it home. Congratulations, and enjoy your new paper weight! Bid comes from an Old English word meaning “to offer,” which is right in line with its meaning today. To bid is the act of offering a bid, or more generally to try to get something. With several companies bidding for your services, you have a lot to consider. Tip: go where the weather's warmest.
Vocabulary lists containing bid
Essential Three-Letter Words, Part 1
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"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 3
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Lee's General Order No. 9: A Farewell Address
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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:
Just four months after Arsenal won the Premier League under the ownership of US billionaire Stan Kroenke, Liverpool's hierarchy have opted for outside investment in a bid to regain the crown.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Some analysts initially expressed skepticism that PayPal would strike a deal with Stripe, with one at William Blair calling the $60.50 bid a “lowball offer” and questioning its industrial logic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Rodri, 30, is in the final year of his contract and City have already rejected a £38.5m bid from Barcelona following interest from Real Madrid.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Meanwhile, Iger and Kushner were making a bid for an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
At the same time, a wrong bid could lead to ruin: “Fortunes were being made—and lost—daily.”
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
"New prisons outrage" is the Sun's headline, writing that "jet bomb plotters" could be "free in weeks" after launching parole bids.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
The Defense Logistics Agency has already asked for bids to stockpile up to 403 tons of indium over three years — more than a third of a year’s global output.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
“We have previously argued that bids for Dowlais and recently Rotork have undervalued quality industrial assets that have been harshly derated in the U.K. market,” the analyst say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
When the Detroit Tigers took bids for Skubal, they liked the Dodgers’ offer the best.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
Isabel bids me good night, and I am alone again.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
They found that the "bad" phenols were produced when bacteria consumed proteins from the host, including proteins found in the mucus lining of the gut.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
They are getting headlines for the wrong reasons and setting bad examples for the young women in middle school and high school who emulate them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
One of those at the meeting, Rebecca Gill, said she had a bad experience after having to travel to Antrim when she was pregnant.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
They were like, If the agency can’t act, too bad.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
"Let's say no more. If you are a bad governor, it will be your fault, but the shame will be mine."
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
The royals packed their suitcases, bade farewell to the palace staff, and climbed into an armored Mercedes that drove them to a nearby rail station.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
White House officials bade farewell on Thursday to one of the two jets that have been used to transport US presidents for more than 30 years.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
Both are alarmed by the sudden reappearance of a Frenchman nicknamed Beast, to whom they’d each bade goodbye years ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
But once her delight settled into relief, she gently bade the young ones to return to their seats.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2025
And then, with his money tied up in his fine Sunday cambric handkerchief, he walked up to the village of Wall and bade good morning to the guards on the gate.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
When and if you are bidden to the journey by a POC who has granted you a brief visit to the darker side of human nature, explore safely.
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2020
Christopher Meloni, Richard Belzer, Dann Florek, and many others may have bidden the show farewell, but Mariska Hargitay, Kelli Giddish, and, yes, Ice-T are killing it these days.
From Slate ● Dec. 26, 2014
For bidden by law to set foot within the Third Republic, and normally resident at Manoir d'Anjou, Belgium, the Bourbon pretender to France's vacant throne turned up this week in Morocco.
From Time Magazine Archive
In the U.N. majority's eyes, the U.S. action seemed to provide a prima-facie case of the kind of direct intervention that has long been for bidden by international law.
From Time Magazine Archive
Quite soon they led Odysseus under the river bank, as they were bidden; and there laid out a tunic, and a cloak, and gave him olive oil in the golden flask.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
Mark Cuban had bowed out of the bidding, believing the Dodgers were not worth even $1 billion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
But even some of the grants slated to fund more traditional human rights projects skirt federal requirements for competitive bidding that are meant to deter waste, fraud and abuse.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
When he nabbed an undervalued card, he tried to replicate that exhilarated feeling by bidding in more auctions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
A spending cap, or salary cap, could limit the earnings potential of top athletes because it would prevent an open bidding process.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
I know there is no genie out there, ready to do my bidding.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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.
