Vickrey auction

noun

A type of sealed-bid auction, where bidders submit written bids without knowing the bids of others, in which the highest bidder wins but the price paid is the second-highest bid.

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Meanings

nounVickrey auction (plural Vickrey auctions)

plural Vickrey auctions

  1. A type of sealed-bid auction, where bidders submit written bids without knowing the bids of others, in which the highest bidder wins but the price paid is the second-highest bid.

Origin

After William Vickrey (1914-1996), Canadian professor of economics.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Vickrey auction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vickrey%20auction

MLA

“Vickrey auction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vickrey%20auction. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Vickrey auction,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vickrey%20auction.

Source: Vickrey auction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.