Adjacent Words

Auction definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

AUC'TION, n. [L. auctio, a public sale; Eng. to hawk. See Hawk.]
1. A public sale of property to the highest bidder, and regularly, by a person licensed and authorized for the purpose; a vendue. contracts for services, sometimes, are sold to the lowest bidder. By the Romans, this species of sale was made by a crier, sub hasta, under a spear stuck in the earth.
2. The thing sold at auction.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a variety of bridge in which tricks made in excess of the contract are scored toward game; now generally superseded by contract bridge [syn: auction, auction bridge]
2: the public sale of something to the highest bidder [syn: auction, auction sale, vendue] v
1: sell at an auction [syn: auction, auction off, auctioneer]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Latin auction-, auctio, from aug?re to increase — more at eke Date: 1595 1. a sale of property to the highest bidder 2. the act or process of bidding in some card games II. transitive verb (auctioned; auctioning) Date: circa 1798 to sell at auction <auctioned off his library>

Britannica Concise

Buying and selling of property through open public bidding. Typically, potential purchasers make a succession of increasing bids or offers until the highest (and final) bid is accepted by the auctioneer. At a so-called Dutch auction, by contrast, the seller offers property at successively lower prices until one of his offers is accepted or until the price drops so low as to force the withdrawal of the offered property. Prospective buyers are usually allowed to examine auction items beforehand, and sellers may set a minimum price below which the property will not be sold. Auctions are important in the agricultural markets of many countries, permitting the rapid sale of perishable goods. Other items often sold at auction include artwork and antiques, secondhand goods, and farms and buildings repossessed by banks or the government. Auction selling is also employed on stock and commodity exchanges.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. a sale of goods, usu. in public, in which articles are sold to the highest bidder. --v.tr. sell by auction. Phrases and idioms: auction bridge 1 a form of bridge in which players bid for the right to name trumps. 2 the sequence of bids made at bridge. Dutch auction a sale, usu. public, of goods in which the price is reduced by the auctioneer until a buyer is found. Etymology: L auctio increase, auction f. augere auct- increase

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Auction Auc"tion, n. [L. auctio an increasing, a public sale, where the price was called out, and the article to be sold was adjudged to the last increaser of the price, or the highest bidder, fr. L. augere, auctum, to increase. See Augment.] 1. A public sale of property to the highest bidder, esp. by a person licensed and authorized for the purpose; a vendue. 2. The things sold by auction or put up to auction. Ask you why Phryne the whole auction buys ? --Pope. Note: In the United States, the more prevalent expression has been ``sales at auction,'' that is, by an increase of bids (Lat. auctione). This latter form is preferable. Dutch auction, the public offer of property at a price beyond its value, then gradually lowering the price, till some one accepts it as purchaser. --P. Cyc.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Auction Auc"tion, v. t. To sell by auction.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(auctions, auctioning, auctioned) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. An auction is a public sale where goods are sold to the person who offers the highest price. Lord Salisbury bought the picture at auction in London some years ago... N-VAR: oft for/at N, N n 2. If something is auctioned, it is sold in an auction. VERB

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Vendue, cant, public sale, auction sale.