bid

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈbɪd/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/bɪd/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(bid)

Inflections of 'bid' (v): (⇒ conjugate)
bids
v 3rd person singular
bidding
v pres p
bid
v past
bade
v past (Less common)
bid
v past p
bidden
v past p (Less common)
WordReference Collins English Usage © 2025
bid
‘bid’ in offers of payment
If you bid for something that is being sold, you offer to pay a particular amount of money for it. When bid has this meaning, its past tense and past participle is bid.
He bid a quarter of a million pounds for the portrait.
‘bid’ in greetings and farewells
People used to use bid with expressions like good day and farewell. This use still occurs sometimes in stories. When bid has this meaning, its past tense is either bid or bade and its past participle is either bid or bidden.
The old woman brought him his coffee and shyly bid him goodbye.
We bade Nandron a goodbye which was not returned.
Tom had bid her a good evening.
We had bidden them good night.
In modern English, you use say instead of ‘bid’ in sentences like these.
I said good evening to them.
Gertrude had already had her supper and had said good night to Guy.
However, when you use say, the indirect object goes after the direct object. You do not say ‘I said them good evening’.

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