bid up

verb

bade up or bid up; bidden up or bid up also bade up; bidding up; bids up

transitive verb

: to raise the price of (something, such as property at auction) by a succession of offers

Examples of bid up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Restricting housing near transit leads to competition that bids up the prices of those homes. Nicole Capretz, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Aug. 2025 Investors bid up the yields on long bonds (which are more sensitive to inflation because of their length). Brett Owens, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025 Millennials and Gen Zers are bidding up prices for rare cars from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Robert Frank, CNBC, 14 Aug. 2025 That market lead alone has encouraged investors to bid up its stock price to more than $250 a share and a market cap north of $108 billion as of Tuesday. Jason Del Rey, Fortune, 6 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for bid up

Word History

First Known Use

1864, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bid up was in 1864

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bid up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bid%20up. Accessed 6 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!