silent auction

American

noun

an auction at which previously submitted written bids of prospective buyers are opened and compared, with each item being sold to the highest bidder.

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.

McDonald Park will be lively all day with music, a silent auction of unique items, homemade cookies and local food trucks for lunch.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026

Attendees will enjoy a drinks reception and dinner seated amid the museum's artefacts -- including in the Duveen Gallery which houses the disputed Parthenon Marbles -- with a silent auction running through the evening.

From Barron's • Oct. 18, 2025

Sane held a silent auction to raise funds for its work in honour of Windsor.

From BBC • Nov. 4, 2024

It was still the mix-and-mingle stage of the afternoon, with attendees greeting one another and making bids on silent auction items.

From Washington Post • Sep. 12, 2022

They swarm around my framed art, hovering at the wall like bees, making bids for the silent auction and walking away, then coming back again to see if anyone else has made a bid.

From "Piecing Me Together" by Renée Watson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023