strike a bargain

present singular third person strikes a bargain · participle present striking a bargain · past struck a bargain · participle past struck a bargain · archaic participle past rare stricken a bargain

1. To enter into a bargain; to agree upon the conditions of a sale or other transaction.

   I think you had better strike a bargain: exchange me for Mrs. Pryor.

   1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Case of Domestic Persecution.—Remarkable Instance of Pious Perseverance in the Discharge of Religious Duties.”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume III, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 240

   3 more examples

   And they gladly embraced the treaty, and struck a bargain with him [Judas Iscariot], that he should have thirty shekels to deliver him [Jesus] up without much noise,

   1659, Henry Hammond, chapter 22, in A Paraphrase and Annotations upon All the Books of the New Testament, London: Richard Davis, The Gospel according to S. Luke, page 257

   My horse was soon produced, and in fine we struck a bargain. Nothing now remained but to pay me, and he accordingly pulled out a thirty pound note,

   1766, Oliver Goldsmith, chapter 14, in The Vicar of Wakefield, volume 1, London: F. Newbery, page 139

   She hires a contractor named Retief, striking a bargain with him that for fifteen pounds he will convey not only the furniture but the three of them as well, in his cab.

   1997, J. M. Coetzee, chapter 16, in Boyhood: Scenes from Provincial Life, London: Secker & Warburg, page 134

   Synonyms: make a deal