noun
bidder
Refers to a person who bids at an auction. Used in contexts like art auctions, fish markets, or online bidding.
競り手たちは次々と値段をつり上げていった。
The bidders kept raising the price one after another.
彼はベテランの競り手で、オークションの駆け引きに長けている。
He is a veteran bidder and skilled at auction tactics.
競り is the auction itself or the act of bidding, while 競り手 specifically refers to the person doing the bidding.
入札者 is a more formal term for a bidder, often used in official tender processes, while 競り手 is common in auction settings.
Compound of 競り (seri, 'auction' or 'bidding', the continuative form of 競る seru 'to bid') and 手 (te, 'person' or 'doer').