Bid

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɪd/
• Rhymes: -ɪd

From Middle English bidden, from the Old English verb biddan, from Proto-Germanic *bidjaną ("to ask"), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰedʰ-. Conflated with the Old English verb bēodan ‘offer, announce’ (see Etymology 2 below). Compare West Frisian bidde, Low German bidden, Dutch bidden, German bitten, Danish bede.

Full definition of bid

Verb

1. (transitive) To issue a command; to tell.He bade me to come in.
2. (transitive) To invite; to summon; to offer.She was bidden to the wedding.
3. (transitive) To utter a greeting or salutation.We bade him farewell.
• 1999, Neil Gaiman, Stardust, page 15 (2001 Perennial Edition).He walked up to the village of Wall and bade good morning to the guards on the gate.

Usage notes

The inflected forms bade and bidden are archaic. They remain in marginal use, particularly regarding greetings, as in “bade farewell”, but uninflected bid is significantly more common, and bidden is especially rare.

“Bid, bade, bidden”, Grammarist

Derived terms

• bid adieu
• bid fair
• forbid

From Middle English beden, from the Old English verb bēodan ("offer, announce"), from Proto-Germanic *beudaną ("to offer"), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- ("be awake, aware"). Conflated with the Old English verb biddan ("ask, demand") (see Etymology 1 above). Compare Low German beden, Dutch bieden, German bieten, Danish byde.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To make an offer to pay or accept a certain price.Have you ever bid in an auction?
2. (transitive) To offer as a price.She bid £2000 for the Persian carpet.
3. (intransitive) To make an attempt.He was bidding for the chance to coach his team to victory once again.
4. (ambitransitive, card games) To announce (one's goal), before starting play.
5. (obsolete) To proclaim (a bede, prayer); to pray.
• 1590, Edmund Spendser, The Faerie Queene, I.x:All night she spent in bidding of her bedes,
  And all the day in doing good and godly deedes.

Derived terms

• bid one's time

Noun

1. An offer at an auction, or to carry out a piece of work.His bid was $35,000.a bid for a lucrative transport contract
2. (ultimate frisbee) A (failed) attempt to receive or intercept a pass.Nice bid!
3. An attempt, effort, or pursuit (of a goal).Their efforts represented a sincere bid for success.She put in her bid for the presidency.He put in his bid for office.
• 2012, May 13, Alistair Magowan, Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd, Then, as the Sunderland fans' cheers bellowed around the stadium, United's title bid was over when it became apparent City had pinched a last-gasp winner to seal their first title in 44 years.
• 1967, William F. Nolan and , , May 1976 edition, ISBN 0553025171, page 16:Running, Doyle had passed up a dozen chances to go underground. He was swinging east again making another bid for Arcade.

Derived terms

Anagrams

• dib
• IBD