BID

The word “BID” means to offer a specific amount of money for something, especially at an auction. In plain terms, an offer of a price, or more broadly, an attempt to win or achieve something.

“BID” is pronounced bihd (/bɪd/ in IPA).

Here is “BID” used in a sentence: “She bid two hundred dollars for the vintage lamp.”

Depending on how it is used, “BID” can be a verb and a noun.

The word “BID” comes from Old English. Merges two old English verbs — one meaning "to command or ask" (as in "bid you welcome") and one meaning "to offer a price" — which is why "bid" today covers both greeting/commanding and auction senses.

“BID” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B2 level.

“BID” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: to offer a specific amount of money for something, especially at an auction.

The terms overlap, but a bid is usually a stated amount you are willing to pay, especially competing against others at an auction. An offer is broader and can involve negotiation, as when buying a house. Every bid is a kind of offer, but not every offer is a formal bid.

To bid at an auction means to state the price you are willing to pay for an item, competing against other buyers. Each new bid must normally beat the last. The highest bid when the auction closes wins, and that bidder pays the amount they offered.

At an auction, one person might bid fifty pounds for a painting, and another then bids sixty. Online, buyers bid against each other until the sale ends. In business, firms bid for a contract by submitting the price and terms on which they would do the work.