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Glite Dictionary
to bid for

to bid for

49 2.9
Offer money for something, often at an auction
  • phrasal verb
  • /bɪd fɔr/
translation icon : pujar por
  • At the auction, I decided to bid for that beautiful painting.
  • make a bid for
  • bid for auction items
  • bid for contracts

Now Bear, instead of having five companies bidding for his cattle, you had one, in fact, one company dictating price.

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Examples

  • And they can place a bid for one of these books, right?

  • I would like to bid for it, too.

    The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

  • We also know you plan to file a formal bid for a majority share.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • I'm right in the middle of working on a bid for a client on the acquisition of a company.

    Academic text (1994)

  • No one's going to bid more than 15 for a thoroughbred.

    War Horse (2011)

  • We've reached the point where 1,000 pounds was bid for the letter.

    The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937)

  • The city's taking bids for an addition to the library.

    The War with Grandpa (2020)

  • Companies then bid for the contract to supply the ethanol, with the lowest bidder winning the contract.

    Academic text (2008)

  • I put in a bid for Marc Chagall's David and Bathsheba.

    The Big Picture (1989)

  • Allyn and Bacon was the only publisher to present a serious bid for distribution of the SRSS materials.

    Academic text (1993)

Synonyms

to offer
vsto bid for
218 1.4

Say a price you will pay to buy something

is used mainly at auctions rather than in general buying or negotiating
to bid
vsto bid for
124 2.5

To offer a certain amount of money to buy something, often at an auction

has identical meaning but appears as a two word phrase with a preposition

Antonyms

to withdraw
159 3.5

To take money or things out of a place where they are kept

How Much

to outbid
14 3.8
to bid for
49 2.9
to offer
218 1.4

Surface Forms

bid for infinitive
bid for past
bid for past participle
bidding for present participle
bids for third person singular

Morphology

bid + for

The meaning 'to offer a particular amount of money for something' is directly derivable from 'bid' (to place an offer) combined with 'for' (indicating the target or recipient of the offer). This verb + preposition composition is a common, compositional pattern in English (and across languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Bid for comes from auctions, where people make a bid by holding up a paddle or shouting a number to offer money for an item. So to bid for something means 'to offer a particular amount of money for something'.