bids

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of bid.

   The auction house received dozens of bids before noon.

   Several bids came in well above the asking price.

   Note

   One plural covers a surprisingly wide spread of nouns. Most often it means offers made at an auction or to win a piece of work. It can also mean attempts at a goal, as in bids for office, or failed tries to catch or intercept a pass. It also covers a driver's regular routes, prison sentences in slang, and business improvement districts, for which bid is an acronym. Only context tells these apart.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of bid.

   The collector bids aggressively whenever a rare stamp appears.

   Each contractor bids on the project according to its own estimate.

   Note

   Two quite different families of meaning share this present-tense form. In buying and selling it either stands alone (she bids on the lamp) or takes the price as its object (he bids fifty dollars). The older senses are transitive and aimed at a person: someone bids a guest farewell, bids a herald speak, bids friends to dinner. Its twin spelling, the plural noun, names the offers themselves.

   She bids her guests farewell at the door.

   The king bids his herald summon the court.

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