Meaning & use
underbidding
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“underbidding” is a form of “underbid”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitivebusiness
Offering a lower price than a competitor to win a contract or job.
Grammar: Can take an object: underbidding rivals; or stand alone: they are underbidding.
Patterns
- underbid someone for something
- underbid on something
The firm kept underbidding its rivals to win city contracts.
Underbidding on the project left them with no profit.
She lost the job by underbidding by only a tiny margin.
noununcountablebusiness
The practice of setting a price or offer too low, often below the real cost.
Grammar: Usually describes a habit: underbidding is risky.
Patterns
- underbidding for something
Underbidding can destroy a small contractor.
Constant underbidding drove several firms out of business.
Regulators investigated underbidding in the public tender.
Word forms
| base form | underbid |
|---|---|
| third person | underbids |
| past tense | underbid |
| past participle | underbid |
Common combinations
- underbidding competitors
- Underbidding competitors may win work but lose money.
- underbidding on a contract
- He regretted underbidding on the roofing contract.
- accused of underbidding
- The company was accused of underbidding to push others out.
- risk of underbidding
- The risk of underbidding is that costs exceed income.
Synonyms and how they differ
- undercutting
- Undercutting means selling at a lower price than a rival, and it is more common in retail than in formal bids.
- lowballing
- Lowballing is informal and suggests quoting a deliberately low price to win a deal, often deceptively.
- underquoting
- Underquoting means giving an estimate lower than the real cost, which is closer to an error.
- underselling
- Underselling means selling below the usual price, not necessarily in competition.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: underbidding or outbid?
underbidding vs outbid
Outbid means to offer more money than someone else, while underbid means to offer less.
Practice
The builder kept ___ rival firms, and then found the jobs lost money.
Choose one answer.
Underbidding means offering lower prices, which explains the lost profit. Overbidding or outbidding would raise the price, not cut it.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “underbidding”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.