haggle
Americanverb (used without object)
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to bargain in a petty, quibbling, and often contentious manner.
They spent hours haggling over the price of fish.
-
to wrangle, dispute, or cavil.
The senators haggled interminably over the proposed bill.
verb (used with object)
-
to mangle in cutting; hack.
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to settle on by haggling.
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Archaic. to harass with wrangling or haggling.
noun
verb
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to bargain or wrangle (over a price, terms of an agreement, etc); barter
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rare (tr) to hack
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
hagglesimple
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hagglessimple
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have haggledperfect
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has haggledperfect
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am hagglingprogressive
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are hagglingprogressive
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is hagglingprogressive
-
have been hagglingperfect progressive
-
has been hagglingperfect progressive
Past
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haggledsimple
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had haggledperfect
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was hagglingprogressive
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were hagglingprogressive
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had been hagglingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of haggle
1275–1325; Middle English haggen to cut, chop (< Old Norse hǫggva to hew ) + -le
Explanation
If you want a great deal on a used TV, then you can try to haggle with the sellers to see if they’ll bring the price down. To haggle is to negotiate or argue over something, usually a price. You can haggle at a flea market or anywhere where the price of items is flexible. But haggle doesn’t always refer to price. You can haggle over a job, a contract, or who gets to ride in the front seat. Haggling is relatively aggressive behavior, and this word is closer in meaning to wrangle than it is to negotiate. You’ll rarely hear of anyone haggling quietly. Haggle implies an argument in which both parties want the best deal for themselves.
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Emphasize that it would be better for them to be present — not only to help you, but also to haggle with shoppers and ensure their items are selling for prices they feel are appropriate.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
I snagged the seats, breaking into a sweat over the cost but hopeful I could haggle with United later about who would pay for it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026
In the midst of Belém’s COP30 bedlam, environmentalists, economists, lobbyists and diplomats busily haggle at the global climate conference about what we can and cannot get away with in negotiations over Mother Nature.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2025
In short: months and months of talking, as party leaders try to form a workable coalition and haggle over a government programme palatable to all sides.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2025
Conversation would be nice, but the true reward would be the ability to haggle fluently and get my next two-headed skull for the same price as a normal one.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
In “Between Riverside and Crazy,” a Black man haggles over the concessions he’s being offered by his former employer, the New York Police Department, eight years after he was shot by a white cop.
From New York Times ● Jan. 14, 2023
He haggles with a supermarket cashier, admires the paved roads, poses with a power mower to impress a cousin back home.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2021
McGee notes that Washington often haggles as all sides try to cut a deal.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 1, 2020
The markets are always a necessary visit, and it helps that he speaks Cantonese and haggles for me.
From The Verge ● Dec. 15, 2017
The lover who has been free-handed may turn into the husband who haggles over his hotel bills.
From The Etiquette of Engagement and Marriage Describing Modern Manners and Customs of Courtship and Marriage, and giving Full Details regarding the Wedding Ceremony and Arrangements by Devereux, G. R. M.
He has haggled about the price, which makes my brother think it’s a legit offer.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 10, 2025
The fishmonger and I haggled over the sea bass.
From Salon ● Mar. 6, 2025
Paramount and Skydance have haggled for months over an ambitious merger that would usher in a new ruler of a sprawling media kingdom that includes CBS, MTV and the film studio behind “Top Gun.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2024
While one hardcover copy of Cook’s latest novel costs the library $18, it costs $55 to lease a digital copy – a price that can’t be haggled with publishers.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 11, 2024
Baba greeted acquaintances from the old country and I haggled with buyers over a dollar or two.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
Meanwhile, Carvana eschews traditional dealer tactics like commissioned salespeople, price haggling and profitable documentation fees tacked onto the transaction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
They have decided to do a deal and are haggling with the trader.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
It could be that they didn’t want haggling over salary to tank their chances for a new job, researchers said.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 3, 2026
Jetten appointed Wouter Koolmees, head of national rail firm NS, as scout to lead the haggling.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025
As you’re walking, sound washes over you, the steady thrum of human activity, people talking in a dozen different languages, chatting, haggling, arguing.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.