1
: a sale of property to the highest bidder
2
: the act or process of bidding in some card games
Examples of auction in a Sentence
Noun
She bought the desk at an auction.
He made several bids at the auction.
Verb
They auctioned a similar desk last year.
The house was auctioned last week.
Recent Examples on the Web
Karen K. Ho, ARTnews.com, 9 July 2024
The dates for the respective auctions are: Friday, Aug. 2 – Eaton and Livingston counties.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 9 July 2024
Kim Komando, USA TODAY, 20 June 2024
The government auctioned off the album in 2021 to PleasrDAO, which acquired the rare project with two payments over the years totaling $4.75 million.
—Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 13 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for auction 
Noun
The French Ministry of Culture announced it designation of the two pistols as national treasures on July 6, shortly before the auction took place.
—Karen K. Ho, ARTnews.com, 9 July 2024
The dates for the respective auctions are: Friday, Aug. 2 – Eaton and Livingston counties.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 9 July 2024
Verb
Like a garage sale but better The postal service contracts with a website to auction off things postal workers can’t deliver.
—Kim Komando, USA TODAY, 20 June 2024
The government auctioned off the album in 2021 to PleasrDAO, which acquired the rare project with two payments over the years totaling $4.75 million.
—Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 13 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for auction
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'auction.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near auction
Cite this Entry
“Auction.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/auction. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
auction
1 of 2 noun
auc·tion
ˈȯk-shən 
: a sale at which things are sold to those who offer to pay the most
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