in the bargain
1
4.4
- idiom
:
además
- Community members benefit from clean facilities and adequate water, while five hundred new maintenance jobs have been created in the bargain.
- got a job in the bargain
Examples
-
Domestic flights are available to the majority of the islands, but ferryboat fares are much cheaper, and you get a pleasant cruise in the bargain.
Academic text (1999) -
It must address the increasing need for all staple foods without sacrificing essential micronutrients in the bargain.
Academic text (1999) -
Robert inherited some of those talents, enough of them to sit on the bench in college, at any rate, and get a free education in the bargain.
Fiction book (1999) -
You'll end up with better homemade food and save a little money in the bargain.
-
The fisheries biologists agreed to the project and hoped to gain some insight into the ancient fisheries in the bargain.
Synonyms
453
1.2
Adds extra information
111
3.6
To give another fact or idea
97
2.7
Add something extra for free
1
3.8
Adds an extra thing to what was said
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'as an extra' can be linked to the literal constituents (i.e. 'in' + 'the bargain' = 'in the deal'), so there is a recognisable connection to the noun 'bargain'. However, the extension from 'in the deal' to the idiomatic meaning 'besides/also' is somewhat conventional and not fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
In the bargain comes from shop talk where a bargain simply meant a deal; if something came 'in the bargain' it was included with the purchase as an extra, so it now means 'as an extra or unexpected addition'.