auction

Pluralauctions

Formsauctions, auctioning, auctioned

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A public event where goods or property are sold to whoever offers the highest bid.

   The estate's furniture went under the hammer at a crowded auction downtown.

   Online auctions let bidders compete from anywhere in the world.

   Similarsale

   Note

   Behind the word is Latin auctiō, "an increase," from augere, "to increase": an auction is named for the climbing bid. The name fits the familiar kind better than every kind. The Economist in 2014 described a Dutch auction, used for flowers and fruit, where prices start high and drop until someone will pay, and a Japanese auction, where bids rise round by round, a little like poker.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To sell goods or property through an auction to the highest bidder.

   The bank will auction the foreclosed properties next Tuesday.

   Officials auctioned the seized vehicles to recover unpaid taxes.

   Similarsell

3. 3
   nouncountable

   In bridge, the opening phase of a deal in which players bid to determine the final contract.

   A competitive auction pushed the final contract to six spades.

   Their auction revealed a strong fit in hearts before they settled on game.

   Similarbidding

   Note

   Bridge uses the saleroom's word for its bidding. Before a card is played, partners exchange calls that settle the final contract, meaning its denomination and level, and decide which side must try to make it. Players call an auction competitive or revealing much as a buyer might. Unlike the saleroom sense, what is being bid for is not an object but the contract itself.

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