Chinese word

拍卖

Pronunciation

Pinyinpāi mài

Meaning

  • verbauction

Example

他决定把旧车拍卖。tā jué dìng bǎ jiù chē pāi mài

He decided to auction his old car.

Illustration for 拍卖 (auction)

More examples

那幅画通过平台拍卖，最后以高价成交。nà fú huà tōng guò píng tái pāi mài zuì hòu yǐ gāo jià chéng jiāo

That painting was auctioned through the platform and finally sold at a high price.

Core concept

One item stands before a crowd while rising offers move it toward the buyer who bids the most.

Common phrases

  • 通过网络拍卖tōng guò wǎng luò pāi mài

    auction online

  • 把物品拍卖bǎ wù pǐn pāi mài

    auction an item

  • 以高价拍卖yǐ gāo jià pāi mài

    auction for a high price

Similar words

卖mài: Provide something to a buyer and receive money for it.
出售chū shòu: Sell goods or services as part of a business or transaction.
竞拍jìng pāi: Try to buy something by competing through higher and higher bids.
转让zhuǎn ràng: Pass ownership or a right from one person or group to another.

Definition in Chinese

通过公开叫价或竞价的方式，将物品卖给出价最高者的销售方式或此类活动。tōng guò gōng kāi jiào jià huò jìng jià de fāng shì jiāng wù pǐn mài gěi chū jià zuì gāo zhě de xiāo shòu fāng shì huò cǐ lèi huó dòng

Word origin

拍 (pāi, "strike or clap") points to the signaling strike used to close a competitive sale, and 卖 (mài, "sell") supplies the basic commercial action.

Usage tips

  • The verb often presents an object as being put into a competitive sale, rather than merely mentioning that the object changes hands.

Other meanings

  • biddingnoun

Opposites

Related words

  • 拍卖品pāi mài pǐnitem for auctionnoun
  • 拍卖会pāi mài huìauction eventnoun

Word lists with this word