Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A public sale in which property or items of merchandise are sold to the highest bidder.
  • transitive verb To sell at or by an auction.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To sell by auction: commonly used with off.
  • noun The act of increasing; increase; growth. Bailey.
  • noun A public sale in which each bidder offers an increase on the previous bid, the highest bidder becoming the purchaser.
  • noun The property or goods put up for sale at auction.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To sell by auction.
  • noun A public sale of property to the highest bidder, esp. by a person licensed and authorized for the purpose; a vendue.
  • noun The things sold by auction or put up to auction.
  • noun the public offer of property at a price beyond its value, then gradually lowering the price, till some one accepts it as purchaser.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A public event where goods or property are sold to the highest bidder.
  • verb To sell at an auction.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb sell at an auction
  • noun the public sale of something to the highest bidder
  • noun a variety of bridge in which tricks made in excess of the contract are scored toward game; now generally superseded by contract bridge

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin auctiō, auctiōn-, from auctus, past participle of augēre, to increase; see aug- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin augere ("to increase").

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Examples

  • At the prices asked, designer chick needs to hire a decent model, eliminate the term auction from the listings, & get a clue: at nearly a thousand bucks for a no exchange/no return item, she clearly is whimbsicly deluded.

    Regretsy – Who Wore it Better? 2010

  • To help relieve the pressures in the market for interbank lending, the Federal Reserve, among other actions, recently introduced the term auction facility through which pre-specified amounts of discount window credit are auctioned to eligible borrowers.

    CNN Transcript Feb 27, 2008 2008

  • A second pair of facilities, the term auction facility for depository institutions and tern securities lending facility for primary dealers makes available predetermined aggregate amounts of longer term funding on pre-announced dates with the interest rate and the distribution of the awards across institutions being determined by competitive auction.

    CNN Transcript Apr 2, 2008 2008

  • Those will now be available for 84 days in addition to the 28-day loans under the term auction facility.

    Fed Extends Lending Programs as Threats Persist 2008

  • The central bank unveiled the term auction facility last week as part of a coordinated effort with other central banks to inject liquidity into global financial market suffering fallout from the subprime debacle in the U.S.

    Morgan's Muddle 2007

  • The central bank unveiled the term auction facility last week as part of a coordinated effort with other central banks to inject liquidity into global financial market suffering fallout from the subprime debacle in the U.S.

    Gifts From the Hill 2007

  • Barclays was the biggest borrower under one scheme, the term auction facility, taking loans totalling $232bn, which it has since repaid

    The Guardian World News Susanna Rustin 2011

  • Barclays was the biggest borrower under one scheme, the term auction facility, taking loans totalling $232bn, which it has since repaid.

    The Guardian World News 2010

  • Barclays was the biggest borrower under one scheme, the term auction facility, taking loans totalling $232bn, which it has since repaid.

    The Guardian World News 2010

  • On Dec. 20, 2007, for example, at least seven German banks, including Dresdner Bank and WestLB, received 28-day loans under the term auction facility.

    Fed reveals credit-crunch aid for banks, funds The Fed - MarketWatch 2010

Comments

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  • What? No one was listing this word?!

    "WILLIAMSBURG, September 23, 1773.

    To be SOLD, on Saturday the 2d of October, at the dwellinghouse of the late Mr. William Rind, deceased.

    ALL the estate of the said Rind, consisting of HOUSEHOLD and KITCHEN FURNITURE, &c. etc. Six months credit will be allowed the purchasers, on giving bond, with approved security, to the subscriber, who is empowered by the court of York county to settle the said estate. All persons who have any demands against the same are desired to make them known immediately; and those indebted are requested to pay their respective balances, that I may be enabled to settle the estate, and pay off the creditors, as no indulgence will be given.

    WILLIAM RUSSELL, Deputy Sheriff."

    Virginia Gazette, Sept. 23, 1773

    (See estate for the sequel.)

    January 30, 2009