strike a bargain

strike a bargain (third-person singular simple present strikes a bargain, present participle striking a bargain, simple past struck a bargain, past participle struck a bargain or (rare) stricken a bargain)

1. To enter into a bargain; to agree upon the conditions of a sale or other transaction.

   Synonym: make a deal

   • 1659, Henry Hammond, A Paraphrase and Annotations upon All the Books of the New Testament, London: Richard Davis, The Gospel according to S. Luke, Chapter 22, p. 257,

     And they gladly embraced the treaty, and struck a bargain with him [Judas Iscariot], that he should have thirty shekels to deliver him [Jesus] up without much noise,

   • 1766, Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield, London: F. Newbery, Volume 1, Chapter 14, p. 139,

     My horse was soon produced, and in fine we struck a bargain. Nothing now remained but to pay me, and he accordingly pulled out a thirty pound note,

   • 1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter 11, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC:

     I think you had better strike a bargain: exchange me for Mrs. Pryor.

   • 1997, J. M. Coetzee, Boyhood: Scenes from Provincial Life, London: Secker & Warburg, Chapter 16, p. 134,

     She hires a contractor named Retief, striking a bargain with him that for fifteen pounds he will convey not only the furniture but the three of them as well, in his cab.