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:
A Filofax from the 1988 Faith tour with Siobhan's handwritten notes and annotations had a guide price of up to £600 and a current bid of £1,750.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Palisades ended Granada Hills’ three-peat bid with a 25-4.5 finals win last fall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
People had proposed to acquire MGM and later withdrew its bid.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
TV stars Nick and Vanessa Lachey have trimmed $500,000 off the asking price of their longtime “dream home,” as they prepare to bid farewell to California.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
They all bid the Millers goodbye and began to separate at the end of the walkway from the front stoop.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Gordon Brothers has been approached for comment, but in an earlier statement it said while MPG was identified as the "preferred bidder" by Poundland's management team, "attention must now turn to other active bids".
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Still, Chandrasekaran’s industry connections are key to her campaign, especially when it comes to raising money for her council and mayoral bids.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
Both companies’ bids were attractive when it came to the numbers, a person familiar with the talks said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
Investors submitted $2.77 in bids for every $1 of bonds available, while indirect bidders, a category that includes foreign institutions, absorbed more than 80% of the offering.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
Before I can reply, he bids me good night and disconnects our chat.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
It’s not that Schoenbrun is bad at making movies, but their mind seems to operate like a story map, with hundreds of red strings pinned between plot points.
From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2026
Small does not necessarily mean bad, but it clearly falls short of radical action to create a promised new economic model.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
However, more bad news from inflation in October could change things quickly, he added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
The worst-case scenario isn’t as bad, but it’s still pretty lousy: 1.6% a year, or less than 40% total over 20 years.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
In the end the cub let him sleep; and next Light, Tall Tailless got up after a stupidly long sleep, in an extremely bad mood.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
Julie Hesmondhalgh bade farewell to her fellow faithfuls, describing the show's reveal as "iconic"
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
White House officials bade farewell on Thursday to one of the two jets that have been used to transport US presidents for more than 30 years.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 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
But once her delight settled into relief, she gently bade the young ones to return to their seats.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2025
She bade him keep on the alert for she would send him a messenger, a bee, to tell him her wishes.
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
The Soviet Government had for bidden Soviet stations' rebroadcasting the speech.
From Time Magazine Archive
"One gets the impression she has bidden farewell to art."
From Time Magazine Archive
After their suitcases had been unloaded from the station wagon, and Rhonda had signed a form and bidden them farewell, the children were left to wait in a loading area by the bridge gate.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
Personally identifiable information is supposed to get censored, but the bidding war has generated legal objections from pilots’ and flight attendants’ unions, per bankruptcy newsletter Petition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Ford, who’s bidding to become Nevada’s first Black governor, has one of those up-by-the-bootstraps biographies that campaign consultants see as spun gold.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2026
A 2,000-year-old sculpture sold at Sotheby’s in New York for $34.3 million, after a bidding war to set a record for a Roman antiquity.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
Jim Carrey is bidding farewell to his sprawling Hawaii waterfront retreat, listing the tropical property for $35 million just days after tying the knot with his longtime partner, Min Ah.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
I needed to see firsthand how competitive bidding worked.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
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