bid
verb (used with object)
to command; order; direct.
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.
-
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:
Amy Hunt and Dina Asher-Smith made history and Georgia Hunter Bell claimed a commanding 1500m gold as Great Britain maintained their bid to top the final medal table at the European Championships.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
It is one of several measures that he is taking in a bid to ensure his small vineyard produces a decent crop despite a historically hot summer and low rainfall.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Howard Dean was critical of Israel during his bid for the presidency in the early 2000s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 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
It closed quietly after his mother bid him goodbye, and he jogged up to Esperanza, the chain-link fence screeching as she shut the gate.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Since 2002, organizing committees have been required to put together joint bids to host both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, using the same venues, facilities and infrastructure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
"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
Under UK takeover rules, the two firms had until Friday to table revised bids.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Before I can reply, he bids me good night and disconnects our chat.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
"I think she is still in shock. I feel so bad for her," she said, adding the bungalow was now "a shell".
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 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
For parents, however, the problem goes beyond bad geography.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
Tribak described his life as "not bad", but told AFP: "I thought I would earn more if I put in the same effort there as I do here."
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
Father replies, “Competition means suspicion, bad tempers. I’ve been feeling it, too.”
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
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
On Thursday, White House officials bade farewell to one of the two heavily modified Boeing 747s that have transported US presidents for decades, which fueled speculation that the new jet would be unveiled imminently.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
Weather presenter Carol Kirkwood said it had been a "privilege and honour" to have been welcomed into viewers' homes for 28 years, as she bade an emotional farewell to BBC Breakfast.
From BBC ● Apr. 1, 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
Then Thetis weeping bade him remember that he himself was fated to die straightway after Hector.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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
Hallowed by custom on many a U. S. campus are those annual rites to which prospective football material from nearby high schools is bidden to be entertained, inspected and secured.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
She could not think it right to deceive her mother, but she had been bidden to mind Hannah, and Hannah wouldn’t hear of ‘Mrs. March bein’ told, and worried just for sech a trifle.’
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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
Companies bidding for government contracts are judged on a range of measures, including value for money and the extent to which they bring benefits to the local community.
From BBC ● 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
For four long hours Kit labored at Dr. Bulkeley's bidding.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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.
