haggle

1 of 2

verb

hag·​gle ˈha-gəl 

haggled; haggling ˈha-g(ə-)liŋ 

transitive verb

1

: to cut roughly or clumsily : hack

2

archaic : to annoy or exhaust with wrangling

intransitive verb

: bargain, wrangle

haggling over the price

haggler

ˈha-g(ə-)lər 

noun

haggle

2 of 2

noun

: an act of negotiating or arguing over the terms of a purchase, agreement, or contract : an instance of haggling or bargaining

a haggle over price

Synonyms

Verb

• bargain
• chaffer
• deal
• dicker
• horse-trade
• negotiate
• palter

Examples of haggle in a Sentence

Verb

She is good at haggling.

had to haggle to get his friend to sell his guitar for 20 bucks

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

One of the best parts about Traders Village though is haggling over pricing with dealers, who are often willing to negotiate, or even barter. —Amanda Ogle, Southern Living, 16 Dec. 2024

Lawmakers haggle with 10 days left to fund the government. —Cate Martel, The Hill, 10 Dec. 2024

That’s a 30% decline since 2012, when there were more than 100 million pay-TV homes in the U.S. Consumers also can cancel streaming services with a click of a button — without haggling with a customer service representative at a pay-TV company call center. —Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2024

As the Senate haggles over how to fill Trump’s Cabinet, many of his allies are campaigning for the nominations. —Adriana Gomez Licon, Chicago Tribune, 11 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

frequentative of hag to hew

First Known Use

Verb

1589, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Noun

1829, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

haggle

verb

hag·​gle

ˈhag-əl

haggled; haggling

-(ə-)liŋ

: to dispute or argue especially in bargaining

haggle noun

haggler

-(ə-)lər

noun