ENGLISH
REFERENCE

auction off

phr. v..
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford

phr. v.. to sell something to the person who offers the most money at a public sale.

phr. v.. to dispose of assets or property via an auction process; typically implies a desire to clear stock or liquidate assets quickly.


SIMPLE

The bank will auction off the old house next week.

CONTEXTUAL

After the gallery closed, the owners decided to auction off the remaining paintings to pay their debts.

COMPLEX

The government intends to auction off the telecommunications spectrum to the highest bidders among the competing national providers.

Particles
off
Separability
optional
Pattern
auction + off + object
Usage

usually used when selling multiple items or a large property to the highest bidder.

Teaching tip

the particle 'off' often suggests a sense of completion or getting rid of something, similar to 'sell off' or 'clear out'.

Pitfall

They auctioned the furniture off to the museum.They auctioned off the furniture to the museum.While technically separable, 'auction off' is most commonly used with the object following the particle, especially for long noun phrases.

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