bid
/bɪd/verb, noun
bid is spelled B-I-D: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 25 times per million words in written English, the 3,612th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, bid means “To issue a command; to tell” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bid?
| Letters | 3: B-I-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 25 times per million words; the 3,612th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is bid?
Bid appears 25 times per million words in written English, the 3,612th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bid?
- /bɪd/
Bid has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bid.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with bid
Also written: bad.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with bid?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as bid.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: dib.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of bid
- bids present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- bidding participle, present
- bade past, participle
- bidden participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bid mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To issue a command; to tell.
He bade me come in.
- 2
To invite; to summon.
She was bidden to the wedding.
- 3
To utter a greeting or salutation.
- 4
obsoleteTo proclaim (a bede, prayer); to pray.
- 5
To make an offer to pay or accept a certain price.
Have you ever bid in an auction?
- 6
To offer as a price; to tender.
She bid £2000 for the Persian carpet.
- 7
To make an attempt.
He was bidding for the chance to coach his team to victory once again.
- 8
To announce (one's goal), before starting play.
- 9
To take a particular route regularly.
I can’t believe he bid the Syracuse turn; that can be brutal in the winter!
noun
- 1
An offer at an auction, or to carry out a piece of work.
His bid was $35,000.
- 2
A (failed) attempt to receive or intercept a pass.
Nice bid!
- 3
An attempt, effort, or pursuit (of a goal).
Their efforts represented a sincere bid for success.
- 4
A particular route that a driver regularly takes from their domicile.
I can’t stand this new bid I’m on, even if the mileage is better.
- 5
slangA prison sentence.
So we ‘lawyered up’. That’s how they say it in the bucket, son, where I did an eight-hour bid.
adverb
- 1
twice a day, two times per day
noun
- 1
Acronym of business improvement district.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bid in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | demander, ordonner, imposer , inviter, proposer , faire une enchère |
| German | gebieten , bieten , melden, reizen , Gebot , Bestrebung |
| Portuguese | mandar, ordenar, intimar , convidar , oferecer , licitação |
| Spanish | licitar, pujar, hacer una oferta , licitación , ofrecer, ofertar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bid come from?
From Middle English bidden, from Old English biddan (“to ask, demand”), from Proto-West Germanic *biddjan, from Proto-Germanic *bidjaną (“to ask”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰedʰ-. Conflated with Old English bēodan (“to offer, announce”) (see Etymology 2 below). Compare West Frisian bidde, Low German bidden, Dutch bidden ("to pray"), German bitten, Danish bede, Norwegian Bokmål be.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).