Dictionary

haggle en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈhæɡəl/ (UK, US)
• (US) audio
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

1570s, "to cut unevenly" (implied in haggler), frequentative of Middle English haggen (“to chop”), variant of hacken (“to hack”), equivalent to hack + -le. Sense of "argue about price" first recorded c.1600, probably from notion of chopping away.

Meanings

1. (intransitive) To argue for a better deal, especially over prices between a buyer and seller.
   • ‘I am pretty useless at haggling. Haggling means asking the seller to sell stuff below the asking price.’ 2020, Abi Daré, The Girl With The Louding Voice, Sceptre, page 184:
   • I haggled for a better price because the original price was too high.
   • Last month, while officials from Washington and Beijing were haggling over whether to roll back tariffs that had brought their trade to a standstill, Chinese companies announced plans to invest about $4.7 billion in Brazil. 2025 June 20, Meaghan Tobin, “Chinese Companies Set Their Sights on Brazil”, in The New York Times:
2. (transitive) To hack (cut crudely)
   • Suffolk first died, and York, all haggled o'er, / Comes to him, where in gore he lay insteeped. 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]:
   • I catched a catfish and haggled him open with my saw, and towards sundown I started my camp fire and had supper. Then I set out a line to catch some fish for breakfast. 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC:
3. To stick at small matters; to chaffer; to higgle.
   • June 30, 1784, Horace Walpole, letter to the Hon. Henry Seymour Conway Royalty and science never haggled about the value of blood.

Forms

Deriveds

higgle-haggle · haggler · wraggle · unhaggling

Relateds

negotiate · bargain

Synonyms

chaffer (to argue for a better deal) · bargain (to argue for a better deal)

Translations (77)

ro țigăni (to argue for a better deal) · hsb wikować (to argue for a better deal) · ro negocia (to argue for a better deal) · izh tinkiä (to argue for a better deal) · cmn 計較 /计较 (to argue for a better deal) · is prútta (to argue for a better deal) · cs dohadovat (to argue for a better deal) · th ต่อรอง (to argue for a better deal) · dsb wikowaś (to argue for a better deal) · sv köpslå (to argue for a better deal) · ja 値切る (to argue for a better deal) · be таргава́цца (to argue for a better deal) · nl afdingen (to argue for a better deal) · fr marchander (to argue for a better deal) · pt barganhar (to argue for a better deal) · cs handrkovat se (to argue for a better deal) · cs smlouvat (to argue for a better deal) · sl barantati (to argue for a better deal) · vi mặc cả (to argue for a better deal) · nb prute (to argue for a better deal) · cmn 討價還價 /讨价还价 (to argue for a better deal) · ar سَاوَمَ (to argue for a better deal) · gl regatear (to argue for a better deal) · uk торгува́тися (to argue for a better deal) · ast recatiar (to argue for a better deal) · ro tocmi (to argue for a better deal) · wo waxaale (to argue for a better deal) · km ដេញថ្លៃ (to argue for a better deal) · nl onderhandelen (to argue for a better deal) · el παζαρεύω (to argue for a better deal) · sv pruta (to argue for a better deal) · hu alkudozik (to argue for a better deal) · ro târgui (to argue for a better deal) · ms tawar-menawar (to argue for a better deal) · sh ценкати се (to argue for a better deal) · id tawar (to argue for a better deal) · pl targować się (to argue for a better deal) · fi tinkiä (to argue for a better deal) · es detenerse en pequeñeces (to stick at small matters) · it tirare sul prezzo (to argue for a better deal) · ko 깎다 (to argue for a better deal) · ast recamariar (to argue for a better deal) · el διαπραγματεύομαι (to argue for a better deal) · bg заяждам се (to stick at small matters) · tr pazarlık yapmak (to argue for a better deal) · et tingima (to argue for a better deal) · it contrattare (to argue for a better deal) · de schachern (to argue for a better deal) · fr chipoter (to stick at small matters) · yue 殺價 /杀价 (to argue for a better deal) · es regatear (to argue for a better deal) · pt regatear (to argue for a better deal) · hy սակարկել (to argue for a better deal) · lt leistis į smulkmenas (to stick at small matters) · da købslå (to argue for a better deal) · pt pechinchar (to argue for a better deal) · fa-ira چانِه زَدَن (to argue for a better deal) · ja 〔値段などで〕押し問答する (to argue for a better deal) · de markten (to argue for a better deal) · de feilschen (to argue for a better deal) · ta பேரம் பேசு (to argue for a better deal) · lo ຕໍ່ (to argue for a better deal) · it mercanteggiare (to argue for a better deal) · sh cjenkati se (to argue for a better deal) · ro neguța (to argue for a better deal) · bg пазаря́ се (to argue for a better deal) · mk се ценка (to argue for a better deal) · ca regatejar (to argue for a better deal) · sh цјенкати се (to argue for a better deal) · ru торгова́ться (to argue for a better deal) · es recatear (to argue for a better deal) · tr pazarlık etmek (to argue for a better deal) · da prutte (to argue for a better deal) · izh tiukata (to argue for a better deal) · sh cenkati se (to argue for a better deal) · eo marĉandi (to argue for a better deal) · gl relear (to argue for a better deal)