from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- transitive v. To issue a command to; direct.
- transitive v. To utter (a greeting or salutation).
- transitive v. To invite to attend; summon.
- transitive v. Games To state one's intention to take (tricks of a certain number or suit in cards): bid four hearts.
- transitive v. To offer or propose (an amount) as a price.
- transitive v. To offer (someone) membership, as in a group or club: "glancing around to be sure that he had been bid by a society that he wanted” ( Louis Auchincloss).
- intransitive v. To make an offer to pay or accept a specified price: decided not to bid on the roll-top desk.
- intransitive v. To seek to win or attain something; strive.
- n. An offer or proposal of a price.
- n. The amount offered or proposed: They lost the contract because their bid was too high.
- n. An invitation, especially one offering membership in a group or club.
- n. Games The act of bidding in cards.
- n. Games The number of tricks or points declared.
- n. Games The trump or no-trump declared.
- n. Games The turn of a player to bid.
- n. An earnest effort to win or attain something: made a bid for the presidency.
- bid in To outbid on one's own property at an auction in order to raise the final selling price.
- bid out To offer (work) for bids from outside contractors.
- bid up To cause (a price) to rise by increasing the amount bid: bid up the price of wheat.
- idiom bid defiance To refuse to submit; offer resistance to.
- idiom bid fair To appear likely.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- v. To issue a command; to tell.
- v. To invite; to summon; to offer.
- v. To utter a greeting or salutation.
- v. To make an offer to pay or accept a certain price.
- v. To offer as a price.
- v. To make an attempt.
- v. To announce (one's goal), before starting play.
- v. To proclaim (a bede, prayer); to pray.
- n. An offer at an auction.
- n. A (failed) attempt to receive or intercept a pass.
- n. An attempt, effort, or pursuit (of a goal).
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- transitive v. To make an offer of; to propose. Specifically : To offer to pay ( a certain price, as for a thing put up at auction), or to take (a certain price, as for work to be done under a contract).
- transitive v. To offer in words; to declare, as a wish, a greeting, a threat, or defiance, etc.
- transitive v. To proclaim; to declare publicly; to make known.
- transitive v. To order; to direct; to enjoin; to command.
- transitive v. To invite; to call in; to request to come.
- imp. & p. p. of bid.
- n. An offer of a price, especially at auctions; a statement of a sum which one will give for something to be received, or will take for something to be done or furnished; that which is offered.
- intransitive v. To pray.
- intransitive v. To make a bid; to state what one will pay or take.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To ask; request; invite.
- To pray; wish earnestly or devoutly; hence, to say by way of greeting or benediction: as, to bid good-day, farewell, etc.
- To command; order or direct; enjoin.
- To offer; propose: as, to bid a price at an auction.
- To raise the price of in bidding; increase the amount offered for: with up: as, to bid up a thing beyond its value.
- To proclaim; make known by a public announcement; declare: as, “our bans thrice bid,” Gay, What d'ye Call it?
- To make an offer; offer a price: as, to bid at an auction.
- n. An offer of a price; specifically, an offer made or the price offered at an auction: as, to increase another's bid.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- v. invoke upon
- v. ask for or request earnestly
- n. (bridge) the number of tricks a bridge player is willing to contract to make
- v. ask someone in a friendly way to do something
- n. an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
- v. make a serious effort to attain something
- n. a formal proposal to buy at a specified price
- v. make a demand, as for a card or a suit or a show of hands
- n. an attempt to get something
- v. propose a payment
Middle English bidden, to ask, command (from Old English biddan; see gwhedh- in Indo-European roots) and Middle English beden, to offer, proclaim (from Old English bēodan; see bheudh- in Indo-European roots).(American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
From Old English verb biddan ‘ask, demand’. Conflation from Old English verb bēodan ‘offer, announce’ (Wiktionary)
From Old English verb bēodan ("offer, announce"). Conflation from Old English verb biddan ("ask, demand"). (Wiktionary)