BARGAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bargain mean? 

• BARGAIN (noun)
  The noun BARGAIN has 2 senses:

1. an agreement between parties (usually arrived at after discussion) fixing obligations of each

2. an advantageous purchase

  Familiarity information: BARGAIN used as a noun is rare.

• BARGAIN (verb)
  The verb BARGAIN has 2 senses:

1. negotiate the terms of an exchange

2. come to terms; arrive at an agreement

  Familiarity information: BARGAIN used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BARGAIN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An agreement between parties (usually arrived at after discussion) fixing obligations of each

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

bargain; deal

Context example:

he rose to prominence through a series of shady deals

Hypernyms ("bargain" is a kind of...):

agreement; understanding (the statement (oral or written) of an exchange of promises)

Derivation:

bargain (negotiate the terms of an exchange)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An advantageous purchase

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

bargain; buy; steal

Context example:

the stock was a real buy at that price

Hypernyms ("bargain" is a kind of...):

purchase (something acquired by purchase)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bargain"):

song (a very small sum)

travel bargain (a bargain rate for travellers on commercial routes (usually air routes))

Derivation:

bargain (negotiate the terms of an exchange)

• BARGAIN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bargain    ... he / she / it bargains   
Past simple: bargained   
Past participle: bargained   
-ing form: bargaining   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Negotiate the terms of an exchange

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

bargain; dicker

Context example:

We bargained for a beautiful rug in the bazaar

Hypernyms (to "bargain" is one way to...):

negociate; negotiate; talk terms (discuss the terms of an arrangement)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bargain"):

chaffer; haggle; higgle; huckster (wrangle (over a price, terms of an agreement, etc.))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue bargain
Sam wants to bargain with Sue

Derivation:

bargain (an agreement between parties (usually arrived at after discussion) fixing obligations of each)

bargain (an advantageous purchase)

bargainer (negotiator of the terms of a transaction)

bargaining (the negotiation of the terms of a transaction or agreement)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Come to terms; arrive at an agreement

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "bargain" is one way to...):

agree (consent or assent to a condition, or agree to do something)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

bargainer (negotiator of the terms of a transaction)

 Context examples 

Hans brushed his coat, wiped his face and hands, rested a while, and then drove off his cow quietly, and thought his bargain a very lucky one.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

This may be holiday season and a hard time to address home-related matters, but if you do, you may get a bargain on a lease or purchase of an apartment or house.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Here’s British Birds, and Catullus, and The Holy War—a bargain, every one of them.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And since you draw so large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in every way.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I won’t weary you with the account of how we bargained and negotiated.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Well, I wish him out of all his trouble with all my heart, and a good wife into the bargain.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Had he not struck a bargain with the doctor, he and his mutineers, deserted by the ship, must have been driven to subsist on clear water and the proceeds of their hunting.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“I am ashamed of my long tongue. Let us make a bargain never to refer to this again.”

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“You’ll get more off him than ever you bargained for,” answered Jim Belcher, and the crowd laughed at the rough chaff.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Very glad he was to get safely past them, for, with their bristling red beards and their fierce blue eyes, they were uneasy men to bargain with upon a lonely moor.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)