noun
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an order; command (often in the phrases do or follow the bidding of , at someone's bidding )
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an invitation; summons
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the act of making bids, as at an auction or in bridge
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bridge a group of bids considered collectively, esp those made on a particular deal
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bidding
Middle English word dating back to 1125–75; see origin at bid 1, -ing 1
Explanation
A person's bidding is what he or she tells you to do for them. You do your brother's bidding when he asks you to bring him his shoes and you comply. Doing your boss's bidding is usually part of a job description, although doing your cousin's or boyfriend's bidding usually isn't required — at least, it shouldn't be. When you are invited to eat at a friend's house, you might have to watch a slide show from his trip to Hawaii after dinner at his bidding. Bidding stems from the verb bid, with its Old English root of biddan, "ask, entreat, beseech, or order."
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 buoyant stock market has supercharged capital gains and stock options for the state’s tech workers, while the AI boom has prompted a bidding war for engineers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 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
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
Andy Burnham will tell firms bidding for public contracts to prove they are creating jobs rather than meeting green and social targets in a bid to get more people into work.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Why would Grigori come here to set a fire, even if it had been at Mr. Whitby’s bidding?
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
"Not only will we wipe out every potential influence on public biddings – we will also make the process much faster, much more efficient and totally accountable."
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2025
In a 2013 email to dozens of senior staff at Siemens China, the manager, Cao Yong Sheng, pointed to a “huge gap between biddings and contracts,” and asked, “Where’s the gap going?”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2021
Peter reluctantly admitted that Mr. Lukach, when inclined, could use his prowess as a healer for darker biddings.
From New York Times ● Mar. 31, 2017
This field of prowess has, it is said, undergone a prejudicial change in these days, the biddings being nearly all by dealers, while gentlemen-collectors are gradually moving out of the field.
From The Book-Hunter A New Edition, with a Memoir of the Author by John Hill Burton
And this lesson has to be learned by those outside the Cloister too, if they would follow Mary in being always ready to answer God's calls and do His biddings.
From Mater Christi Meditations on Our Lady by Mother St. Paul
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.
