offering
Americannoun
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something offered in worship or devotion, as to a deity; an oblation or sacrifice.
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a contribution given to or through the church for a particular purpose, as at a religious service.
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anything offered as a gift.
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something presented for inspection or sale.
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a sale.
our spring offering of furniture.
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the act of one who offers.
noun
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something that is offered
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a contribution to the funds of a religious organization
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a sacrifice, as of an animal, to a deity
Etymology
Origin of offering
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English offrung; equivalent to offer + -ing 1
Explanation
An offering is a type of offer or bid, like the kind made in a business meeting. When you offer something—like a cookie—you're asking someone if they want it. An offering is like that: it's an offer. One type of offering is a proposal or bid made in business. A sports team could make an offering of three million dollars a year to a running back. A bidder could make an offering of one thousand dollars at an auction. An offering is a promise to pay that much if the offering is accepted.
Vocabulary lists containing offering
King Tut Day
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Ship Breaker
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Novel Study: The Road, Pages 1–175
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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.
Because this means they technically allocated more than the offering amount, the so-called stabilization agent, in this case Morgan Stanley, needs to buy back the excess number of shares to deliver them.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
Retail investors will play a huge role in how the initial public offering goes.
From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026
NHS England has told the clinic it must stop offering new prescriptions to children, and said a number of current and former clinicians had been referred to medical regulators.
From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026
SpaceX is the largest initial public offering on record, with its IPO price of $135 amounting to a $1.77 trillion market value for the company.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 11, 2026
This new source was offering a view from inside.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
