In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
AUCTION
auction, auction sale, vendue
(noun) the public sale of something to the highest bidder
auction, auction bridge
(noun) a variety of bridge in which tricks made in excess of the contract are scored toward game; now generally superseded by contract bridge
auction, auction off, auctioneer
(verb) sell at an auction
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
auction (plural auctions)
A public event where goods or property are sold to the highest bidder.
(bridge) The first stage of a deal, in which players bid to determine the final contract.
Synonyms
• roup sale
Verb
auction (third-person singular simple present auctions, present participle auctioning, simple past and past participle auctioned)
To sell at an auction.
Anagrams
• caution, tauonic
Source: Wiktionary
Auc"tion, n. Etym: [L. auctio an increasing, a public sale, where the price was called out, and the article to be sold was adjudged to the last increaser of the price, or the highest bidder, fr. L. augere, auctum, to increase. See Augment.]
1. A public sale of property to the highest bidder, esp. by a person licensed and authorized for the purpose; a vendue.
2. The things sold by auction or put up to auction. Ask you why Phryne the whole auction buys Pope.
Note: In the United States, the more prevalent expression has been "sales at auction," that is, by an increase of bids (Lat. auctione). This latter form is preferable. Dutch auction, the public offer of property at a price beyond its value, then gradually lowering the price, till some one accepts it as purchaser. P. Cyc.
Auc"tion, v. t.
Definition: To sell by auction.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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