auction

American  

[awk-shuhn] / ˈɔk ʃən /

noun

1. Also called public sale.  a publicly held sale at which property or goods are sold to the highest bidder.

2. Cards.

   1. auction bridge.

   2. (in bridge or certain other games) the competitive bidding to fix a contract that a player or players undertake to fulfill.

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verb (used with object)

1. to sell by auction (often followed byoff ).

   He auctioned off his furniture.

auction British  

/ ˈɔːkʃən /

noun

1. a public sale of goods or property, esp one in which prospective purchasers bid against each other until the highest price is reached Compare Dutch auction

2. the competitive calls made in bridge and other games before play begins, undertaking to win a given number of tricks if a certain suit is trumps

3. See auction bridge

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verb

1. to sell by auction

Other Word Forms

• auctionable adjective
• auctionary adjective
• proauction adjective
• unauctioned adjective

Etymology

Origin of auction

1585–95; < Latin auctiōn- (stem of auctiō ) an increase, especially in the bidding at a sale, equivalent to auct ( us ) increased, past participle of augēre ( aug- increase + -tus past participle suffix) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

Curtains that once graced the windows of a royal retreat have been turned into Christmas stockings to be auctioned for charity.

From BBC

The auction house said in its promotional material that very little was known of the painting -- only that a peer of Rubens had made an engraving of it.

From Barron's

About 20 years ago, one album of photographs from the movement appeared at a London auction.

From BBC

In many states the lender can still obtain a “deficiency judgment” against both borrower and cosigner after they sell the car at auction.

From MarketWatch

Meanwhile, Lynch, the Miami-based investor, had been asking the U.S. government to allow him to bid on the sabotaged Nord Stream Pipeline 2 if it came up for auction in a Swiss bankruptcy proceeding.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• sell-off