bid up
(redirected from bid it up)bid up
1. To increase the price of an item by offering to pay more money for it than the previous bidder, as at an auction. A noun or pronoun can be used between "bid" and "up." If no one bids up the price of the necklace, it will be yours. I did really want that antique dresser, but the other people at the auction kept bidding it up, and I wasn't willing to pay thousands for it. I don't have the kind of money to bid up the artwork being auctioned today. I'm just here to watch the proceedings.
2. To increase the value of something, usually a security, by offering to pay higher and higher prices for it. A noun or pronoun can be used between "bid" and "up." Overeager investors are bidding up that stock. It's wild being on the trading floor and hearing traders buy and bid stocks up left and right. Only buy that stock if no one else bids it up first.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
bid something up
to raise the price of something at an auction by offering higher and higher prices; to increase the value of something, such as shares of stock, by offering a higher price for it each time it comes up for sale. Who is bidding the price up on that painting? Someone bid up the price on each piece at auction and then backed off.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
bid up
Raise a price by raising one's offer, as in We were hoping to get an Oriental rug cheaply, but the dealer kept bidding us up. This phrase is used in business and commerce, particularly at auctions. [Mid-1800s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
bid up
v.
1. To increase the price of something by offering increasingly high purchase prices for it: The traders bid up the stocks in oil companies. The buyer bid the artist's paintings up much more than she expected that they would be worth.
2. To increase some cost by offering increasingly high purchase prices: There were many potential buyers, and together they bid up the cost of milk to $3 per gallon. The price was low at first, but the buyer bid it up to much more than he could afford.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.