1. FINANCE to offer to pay a particular price for something such as goods, property, or bonds:
bid (something) for something
• He bid £69,000 at Sotheby's for an 18th century wine glass.
2. FINANCE to offer to buy a large number of shares in a company and so take over the company:
bid (something) for something
• The company is bidding 910p a share for control of AB Ports, in a deal worth an estimated £2.8 billion.
3. COMMERCE to offer to do work or provide services for a fixed price, in competition with others:
bid (something) for something
• Investors have bid a record amount of cash for Venezuela's oil operating licences.
• The government has invited companies to bid for gas exploration rights in the west of the country.
— bidder noun [countable] :
• bidders for the franchises
— bidding noun [uncountable] :
• The painting made $14 million in frenzied bidding at Christie's.
if people bid up a price, they cause it to increase because of the competition between them in bidding:
• Investors have bid up the company's shares about 25%, despite disappointing operating results.
* * *
bidding UK US /ˈbɪdɪŋ/ noun [U]
► COMMERCE the action of offering to buy something for a particular amount of money, especially at an auction (= public sale): »
For the first half hour of the auction the bidding was slow and cautious.
»He opened the bidding at £2,000.
»online/internet bidding
Financial and business terms. 2012.