From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishauctionauc‧tion1 /ˈɔːkʃən $ ˈɒːk-/ ●○○ noun [countable, uncountable] SELLa public meeting where land, buildings, paintings etc are sold to the person who offers the most money for themat auction The house was sold at auction.put something up for auction (=try to sell something at an auction) This week 14 of his paintings were put up for auction.auction house (=a company that arranges auctions)
Examples from the Corpus
auction• An undeniable attraction of an auction is the possibility that some undervalued item may be for sale.• How much do you think the painting would fetch at auction?• Sometimes, the cars are bought at U.S. government or charity auctions.• His first painting goes up for auction on Friday.• There are even sections on architectural salvage, ethnic crafts and furnishings, auctions and markets.• And all had been bought at a government auction.• Sotheby's decided to hold auctions in Japan twice a year.• Bikes that have not been claimed by the owners will be sold at a public auction January 11.• Much to William Pitt's disgust Cator sold the bond by public auction to a solicitor called Yates.• A judge has given class-action status to a suit against the auction giant.• The buyer did not attend the auction, but sent a representative to place the bids.auction house• World Golf opened in mid-December in Sherman Oaks, in a brick building that once was an auction house.• In addition to fashion, Bond Street is also renowned for its auction houses and for its fine art galleries.• It's the city's largest auction house.• Brodsky countered that the broadening of the auction houses' public accountability could only help the market.• The deeper problems in the art market have to do with the depredations of the auction houses.• Particularly in New York, many of the auction houses look intimidating.• The auction house had been assured by their legal advisors that the current owners of the work had legal entitlement.• The auction houses photographic department phone is 212-606-7240.• Since then Sotheby's business has spread into less traditional auction house areas, including real estate.auctionauction2 (also auction off) verb [transitive] SELLto sell something at an auction→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
auction• One of the Beatles' guitars is being auctioned for charity.• Dole wants those sections of the airwaves to be auctioned instead.• Writers like novelist and children's author Susan Hill from Beckley near Oxford bring their own signed books to be auctioned later.• Instead, county governments auction off tax lien certificates that investors purchase for the amount of the delinquent taxes and penalties.• The real purpose of the tax code is to supply tax breaks for politicians to auction off to campaign contributors.• The Bank will announce on Tuesday the terms for its new gilt, to be auctioned on April 29.• It was finally decided to auction the aircraft along with the majority of the Fox Studio's props.• The contents of the house were auctioned to pay off the family's debts.From Longman Business Dictionaryauctionauc‧tion1 /ˈɔːkʃənˈɒːk-/ noun [countable]COMMERCE1a public meeting where land, buildings, paintings etc are sold to the person who offers the most money for themSotheby’s estimated that its Impressionist paintings auction would take in about $80 million.The buildings will be sold at auction next month.2put something up for auction to offer something for sale in an auctionThe house was put up for auction. → absolute auction → Dutch auction → open-cry auction → sealed-bid auctionauctionauction2 verb [transitive]COMMERCE to offer something for sale at an auctionRepossessed houses are often auctioned.auction something offFleet arranged to auction off the company’s inventory and equipment.→ See Verb tableOrigin auction1 (1500-1600) Latin auctio “increase”, from augere ( → AUGMENT); because the money offered increases 