bargain

views updated May 11 2018

bar·gain / ˈbärgən/ • n. 1. an agreement between two or more parties as to what each party will do for the other: the extraconstitutional bargain between the northern elite and the southern planters.2. a thing bought or offered for sale more cheaply than is usual or expected: the secondhand table was a real bargain.• v. [intr.] negotiate the terms and conditions of a transaction: he bargained with the city council to rent the stadium [as n.] (bargaining) many statutes are passed by political bargaining. ∎  [tr.] (bargain something away) part with something after negotiation but get little or nothing in return: his determination not to bargain away any of the province's existing economic powers. ∎  (bargain for/on) be prepared for; expect: I got more information than I'd bargained for he didn't bargain on this storm.PHRASES: drive a hard bargain be uncompromising in making a deal.into (in) the bargain in addition to what was expected; moreover: an upstate yokel and a raving paranoiac into the bargain.strike a bargain make a bargain; agree to a deal.DERIVATIVES: bar·gain·er n.

Bargain

views updated May 23 2018

BARGAIN

A reciprocal understanding, contract, or agreement of any sort usually pertaining to the loan, sale, or exchange of property between two parties, one of whom wants to dispose of an item that the other wants to obtain. To work out the terms of an agreement; to negotiate ingood faithfor the purpose of entering into an agreement.

A union engages in collective bargaining on proposed contract terms.

bargain

views updated May 29 2018

bargain XIV. — OF. bargaignier trade, dispute — Gmc. *borʒanjan, f. *borʒ- BORROW.
So bargain sb. XIV. — OF. bargaine.