1
: a sale of property to the highest bidder
2
: the act or process of bidding in some card games
Examples of auction in a Sentence
Noun
She bought the desk at an auction.
He made several bids at the auction.
Verb
They auctioned a similar desk last year.
The house was auctioned last week.
Recent Examples on the Web
Denny Alfonso, New York Times, 12 Dec. 2025
There's no sign that this auction is over yet.
—David Folkenflik, NPR, 12 Dec. 2025
Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 4 Dec. 2025
Vodafone auctioned the first SMS as a nonfungible token (NFT).
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for auction
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Noun
Though many highlights celebrated the NBA’s golden chapters, the auction that closed Thursday also featured remarkable items from other sports.
—Denny Alfonso, New York Times, 12 Dec. 2025
There's no sign that this auction is over yet.
—David Folkenflik, NPR, 12 Dec. 2025
Verb
In July, Birkin's original handbag was auctioned off as part of Sotheby's Paris Fashion Icons sale.
—Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 4 Dec. 2025
Vodafone auctioned the first SMS as a nonfungible token (NFT).
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for auction
Cite this Entry
“Auction.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/auction. Accessed 14 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
auction
1 of 2 noun
auc·tion
ˈȯk-shən 
: a sale at which things are sold to those who offer to pay the most
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