[Vocabulary] For £5000

Kazuo said:

Hello!

The vase was knocked down for £5000. (OALD)

Is it possible to use ‘at’ instead of ‘for’ in the sentence above?

Thanks in advance

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emsr2d2 said:

I'm confused by the meaning of the sentence, regardless of whether you use "at" or "for".

"The vase was knocked down for £5000" means to me that someone was paid £5000 to knock the vase to the ground! (Similar to "His wife was murdered for £10,000"!)

"The vase was knocked down, at £5000" (note the comma) would mean that the vase was on sale at a reduced price, now £5,000.

If the vase had previously been on sale at a higher price you can say "The vase was knocked down to £5,000".

In order to use "for" I would have to change the sentence to "The vase was on sale for £5,000, a knock-down price".

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Raymott said:

I believe "knocked down" is the technical term used when auctioneers knock their gavel to signify that bidding is over.
In this case, I think 'at' and 'for' both work, but 'at' is part of the technical term - to knock something down at a certain price.

knock-down: Definition from Answers.com

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