bid

[bid]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bid ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), bade or (Archaic) bad for 1, 2, 5 or bid for 3, 4; bid·den or bid for 1, 2, 5 or bid for 3, 4; bid·ding.

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 or (Archaic) bad for 6 or bid for 7; bid·den or bid for 6 or bid for 7; bid·ding.

to command; order; direct: I will do as you bid.

to make a bid: She bid at the auction for the old chair.

noun

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.

Also called bid price. Stock Exchange. the highest price a prospective buyer is willing to pay for a security at a given moment.

Verb Phrases past and past participle bid, present participle bid·ding.

bid in, Commerce. to overbid all offers for (property) at an auction in order to retain ownership.

bid up, Commerce. to increase the market price of by increasing bids.

Idioms past bade or (Archaic) bad, past participle bid·den or bid, present participle bid·ding.

bid fair. fair¹(def 29).

Origin of bid

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

Related formsbid·der, noun

Can be confusedbidder bitter

Synonyms for bid

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bid ON THESAURUS.COM

1. charge; require, enjoin. 3. offer, tender, proffer. 8. offer, proposal; proffer.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bidder

enemy, competitor, candidate, foe, rival, player, challenger, opposition, aspirant, adversary, applicant, nominee, contender, contestant, successor, bidder, opposer, assailant, bandit, entrant

Examples from the Web for bidder

Contemporary Examples of bidder

It went up for auction on the website Williams & Williams and was snapped up by an anonymous Vietnamese bidder for $900,000.
America’s Tiniest Town Is Sold And Renamed PhinDeli Town Buford, Wyoming
Nina Strochlic
October 17, 2013
He bid quickly and quietly against a second bidder until the lot reached $6.5 million.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Big Christie’s Auction Brings in $38.8 Million
Isabel Wilkinson
May 14, 2013
"$450,000," called the auctioneer, pointing to a bidder in the crowd at Christie's.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Big Christie’s Auction Brings in $38.8 Million
Isabel Wilkinson
May 14, 2013
A bidder next to me paid £3,000 for a black hat, determined to come away with “something.”
Audrey's Blockbuster Auction
Olivia Cole
December 9, 2009

Historical Examples of bidder

As to the farm, then, you are likely to be the only bidder, unless you allow the mortgage to remain.
The Young Miner
Horatio Alger, Jr.
It would be possible, indeed, for a bidder to take the article from me by force.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice
Stephen Leacock
Unfortunately the official calculator is not of the blood of Bidder.
France and the Republic
William Henry Hurlbert
And, if glances could have killed, many a bidder would have dropped dead.
The Crisis, Complete
Winston Churchill
When Dory heard the name of the other bidder, he turned, and saw that it was Pearl Hawlinshed.
All Adrift
Oliver Optic

British Dictionary definitions for bidder

bid

verb bids, bidding, bad, bade, esp for senses 1, 2, 5, 7 bid, bidden or esp for senses 1, 2, 5, 7 bid

(often foll by for or against) 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; commanddo as you are bid!

(intr usually foll by for) to attempt to attain power, etc

(tr) to invite; ask kindlyshe bade him sit down

bridge to declare in the auction before play how many tricks one expects to make

bid defiance to resist boldly

bid fair 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

Word Origin for bid

Old English biddan; related to German bitten

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bidder

bid

probably a merger of two old words: The sense in bid farewell is from Old English biddan "to ask, entreat, pray, beseech; order; beg" (class V strong verb, past tense bæd, past participle beden), from Proto-Germanic *bidjan "to pray, entreat" (cf. German bitten "to ask," attested from 8c.), which, according to Kluge and Watkins is from a PIE root *gwhedh- "to ask, pray" (see bead (n.)).

To bid at an auction, meanwhile, is from Old English beodan "offer, proclaim" (class II strong verb; past tense bead, p.p. boden), from Proto-Germanic *biudanan "to stretch out, reach out, offer, present," (cf. German bieten "to offer"), from PIE root *bh(e)udh- "to be aware, make aware" (cf. Sanskrit bodhati "is awake, is watchful, observes," buddhah "awakened, enlightened;" Old Church Slavonic bljudo "to observe;" Lithuanian budeti "to be awake;" Old Irish buide "contentment, thanks"). As a noun, 1788, from the verb.