auction

auction — noun

1. a sale, often open to the public, where people keep offering more money until th

1.nounC1
Definition

a sale, often open to the public, where people keep offering more money until the item goes to whoever offers the most

Example

Dozens of neighbors came to the church auction on Saturday morning.

collocation: church auction

The painting sold for $8,000 at a local auction in Tainan.

pattern: at auction

Common collocations
  • charity auction
  • online auction
  • silent auction
  • win at auction
  • go to auction
Synonyms
  • sale

    a much broader word that does not require competing offers

  • public sale

    close in meaning but more formal and descriptive

  • bidding

    focuses on the offers being made, not the whole selling event

Antonyms
  • private sale

    describes a sale made directly without public bidding

  • fixed-price sale

    the price is set in advance instead of being raised by buyers

Grammar Patterns

at auction

go to auction

hold an auction

auction of something

Usage Note

Often appears after verbs such as hold, run, attend, and win, and with phrases like at auction or go to auction. Distinguish from verb sense 1: this sense names the event or method, while the verb names the act of selling in that way.

Common Mistakes

We bought the lamp in the auction.
We bought the lamp at the auction.
auction is usually treated as an event, so at is the usual preposition.

auction — verb

Word family

  • auctioneer
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

For noun sense 1, auction is the clearest word when an item is sold by inviting buyers to keep raising their offers until one offer is highest. Sale is much broader, because a shop can have a sale with fixed prices and no competition between buyers. Bidding refers mainly to the act of making offers, so it names one part of an auction rather than the whole event. Tender is more formal and is often used for business contracts or large projects, where offers may be sealed instead of called out in public. A painting may sell at an auction, but a city government may invite tenders for a new bridge.

auction ↗sale ↗bidding ↗tender ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • at auction
  • go to auction
  • put up for auction
  • sell at auction

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Auction came into English through French from a Latin word linked to increasing. That older idea fits the way an auction works, because the price rises as buyers keep making higher offers.