auction 1 of 2

noun

Definition of auctionnext
as in sale
a public event at which things are sold to the people who offer to pay the most She bought the desk at an auction. He made several bids at the auction.

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auction

2 of 2

verb

as in to merchandise

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of auction
Noun
We’re told this was a six-figure deal; Verve held the auction. — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2026 The government sold it at auction for $4 million to digital art collective PleasrDAO in 2021. — Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2026
Verb
This fall, for the very first time, the parent company of the designer—who died in 2002 at the age of 79—is throwing open the Blass archives to auction a variety of designs, sketches, and mementos. — Laurie Brookins, Travel + Leisure, 21 Sep. 2026 The accounting firm then selected four real estate firms — SRI, Knight Frank, Edmund Tie & Company and List International Realty — to auction or sell more than 80 properties. — Oscar Holland, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for auction
Recent Examples of Synonyms for auction
  1. sale
  2. merchandise
  3. transaction
  4. exchange
  5. resell
  6. swap
  7. purchase
  8. bargain
Noun
  • Vinyl records just posted their nineteenth consecutive year of growth, passing $1 billion in US sales in an era when streaming has made music essentially free.
    — Matt Alt, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Private facilities will usually accept leaves from many different sources and have larger quantities of compost available for bulk sale.
    — Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of sale
Verb
  • Expect retailers to start merchandising home fragrance by room rather than by scent family, and expect brands to release coordinated multi-room sets.
    — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Previously, the company had been merchandising denim throughout the store alongside other ready-to-wear.
    — Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of merchandise
Noun
  • Harrington cofounded Elemis in 1990 and led it from launch through the end of 2025, taking the business global and steering it through multiple transactions — including a $900 million sale from private equity to a strategic holding company in 2019.
    — Kathryn Hopkins, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Ecobank agreed a partnership with China’s payment system to enable transaction settlements in the yuan currency.
    — Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of transaction
Verb
  • Instead of exchanging the entire print head, the K3 swaps a smaller assembly containing the nozzle, hotend and filament path.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Jo also inherited hundreds of letters that Vincent wrote and received, most exchanged with Theo.
    — Joan Martelli, Time, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of exchange
Verb
  • Critics say the drive to buy local goods can inflate costs where domestic suppliers lack capacity, opening the door to middlemen who resell imports.
    — Paige Bruton, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Brokers gobble up tee times at public golf courses and resell them.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of resell
Verb
  • Roberts had swapped Hernández and slumping Will Smith in the batting order, moving Hernández up to third and Smith down to fifth.
    — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Another good option is to enhance peanut butter toast’s nutritional value by adding and swapping out different toppings.
    — Trista Chan, HEALTH, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of swap
Verb
  • Firms that know exactly where the line sits hold quiet advantages their competitors cannot purchase or replicate.
    — Matt Alt, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2026
  • While performance varies with outdoor temperatures, heat pumps can deliver substantially more useful heat per unit of energy purchased than conventional electric resistance heating.
    — Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of purchase
Verb
  • As those revenues became scarcer in the years after Proposition 13, which capped annual increases, counties tended to bargain more fiercely, and cities tended to get smaller shares, Laurel previously said.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Another bill, the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, would guarantee for the first time that every public-sector worker in the country has the right to bargain collectively.
    — Liz Shuler, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of bargain

Browse Nearby Words

au courant
auction
auctioned
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Cite this Entry

“Auction.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/auction. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on auction

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about auction

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