bidder
(ˈbɪdə(r))
[f. bid v. + -er1.]
† 1. One who asks or begs; bidders and beggars is frequent in P. Plowman, referring to those who made a trade of begging. Obs.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. Prol. 40 Bidders [v.r. bydderes] and Beggers · faste a-boute eoden. 1393 Ibid. C. x. 61 Beggers and bydders beþ nat in [þat] bulle. |
2. One who commands or orders.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 3679 Onence þe bidder it standes in nede. 1632 Sherwood, A bidder, commandeur. |
3. One who invites, or delivers an invitation.
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. xxii. 4 They agayne neglected the bidder. 1705 Stanhope Paraphr. III. 205 On the Bidder's Part every Circumstance conspires to magnify his Condescension. 1876 Whitby Gloss. Pref. 9 To the burying the parish clerk was the usual Bidder. |
4. One who makes an offer for a thing, esp. at a public auction; also fig. (The usual sense.)
| 1685 Lond. Gaz. No. 2050/4 The Bidder to advance 6d. per Gross upon each bidding. 1702 Ibid. No. 3832/4 To be sold to the highest Bidder. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 195 ¶5 This over-stock of Beauty, for which there are so few Bidders. 1776 Gibbon Decl. & F. I. 109 The Roman world was to be disposed of to the best bidder by public auction. 1868 M. Pattison Academ. Org. §5. 203 The Universities will be the only bidders for such eminent qualities. |
5. Card-playing. One who makes a bid (see bid n. 2) (see also quot. 1908). Cf. declarer 3 b.
| 1880 ‘Trumps’ American Hoyle 230 The bidder may at his option call for a lead of any suit from the player whose proper lead it is. 1897 R. F. Foster Complete Hoyle 271 The hands are usually abandoned when the bidder succeeds in his undertaking. 1908 L. Hoffmann Five Hundred 14 The player who has bid highest is thenceforth known as ‘the bidder’ for that hand. 1929 M. C. Work Compl. Contract Bridge ii. 9 The exact strength of the bidder's hand is of vital importance. |