I. bid 1 W3 /bɪd/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . an offer to pay a particular price for something, especially at an ↑ auction
bid for
They put in a bid for the house.
the person who places the highest bid
We’ve made a bid of nearly £400 million for the company.
A takeover bid for the airline was launched today.
2 . an offer to do work or provide services for a specific price
bid for
rival bids for the cleaning contract
3 . an attempt to achieve or obtain something
bid for
a bid for power
a bid to do something
a desperate bid to free herself from a loveless marriage
4 . a statement of how many points you hope to win in a card game
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ put in a bid
A big property developer has put in a bid for the land.
▪ place a bid
The gallery placed the highest bid of $2.5 million.
▪ make a bid
Paramount made a bid for the film rights to the book.
▪ accept a bid
The auctioneer may refuse to accept any bid below a certain price.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + bid
▪ a high/low bid
There were several high bids for the painting.
▪ an opening bid (=the first bid)
The opening bid was only $10.
▪ a final bid
The unknown man was successful with a final bid of £9,500.
▪ a takeover bid (=an offer to buy another company)
Staff are afraid that the takeover bid will threaten some of their jobs.
▪ a hostile bid (=an offer to buy another company that does not want to be bought)
Airtours launched a £221m hostile bid for Owners Abroad.
II. bid 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle bid , present participle bidding )
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to offer to pay a particular price for goods, especially in an ↑ auction
bid (somebody) something for something
She bid £100 for a Victorian chair.
What am I bid for lot 227? Shall we start at $500?
bid against
The two men ended up bidding against each other at the auction.
2 . [intransitive] to offer to do work or provide services for a specific price, in competition with other offers
bid for
Three firms bid for the contract on the new buildings.
3 . [intransitive and transitive] to say how many points you think you will win in a game of cards
III. bid 3 BrE AmE verb ( past tense bade /bæd, beɪd/ or bid , past participle bid or bidden /ˈbɪdn/, present participle bidding ) literary
1 . bid somebody good afternoon/good morning etc to greet someone
2 . [transitive] to order or tell someone what to do
bid somebody (to) do something
The queen bade us enter.