haggle
Americanverb (used without object)
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to bargain in a petty, quibbling, and often contentious manner.
They spent hours haggling over the price of fish.
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to wrangle, dispute, or cavil.
The senators haggled interminably over the proposed bill.
verb (used with object)
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to mangle in cutting; hack.
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to settle on by haggling.
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Archaic. to harass with wrangling or haggling.
noun
verb
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to bargain or wrangle (over a price, terms of an agreement, etc); barter
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rare (tr) to hack
Other Word Forms
- haggler noun
- unhaggled adjective
- unhaggling adjective
Etymology
Origin of haggle
1275–1325; Middle English haggen to cut, chop (< Old Norse hǫggva to hew ) + -le
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.
The women with large baskets were already haggling with the fishermen.
From Literature
In a car-buying simulation, researchers at Indiana University and Cornell University found that participants were willing to pay an average of about $1,100 extra for a $20,000 vehicle just to avoid any haggling.
Car boot sales are full of customers haggling for the best deal, where you "price something for £1.50 but people want it for £1", traders have said.
From BBC
“Each piece represents a store we love, a lucky find or a successful haggle that ended with us carrying home something with history.”
From Los Angeles Times
I had never witnessed such haggling over prices.
From Literature
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.
