haggle

1 of 2

verb

hag·​gle ˈha-gəl How to pronounce haggle (audio)
haggled; haggling ˈha-g(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce haggle (audio)

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 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

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
Zoom in: Thune spent days haggling with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer over the bill, which requires ICE to detain immigrants charged with or convicted of theft. Stephen Neukam, Axios, 17 Jan. 2025 Deficit hawks balked at the figure, which has led to some haggling over the final amount. Emily Martin, The Hill, 13 Dec. 2024 The contours of the ceasefire deal struck this week were largely the same as those Biden announced in May 2024, after months of haggling between and Israel and Hamas over reaching another deal following a brief November 2023 truce that freed some 100 hostages. Brad Dress, The Hill, 18 Jan. 2025 The deliberations, as mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, are meant to help people on Medicare afford their medications by allowing the government program to directly haggle over prices with drugmakers. Berkeley Lovelace Jr., NBC News, 9 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for haggle 

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of haggle was in 1589

Dictionary Entries Near haggle

Cite this Entry

“Haggle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/haggle. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.

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

More from Merriam-Webster on haggle

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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