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View synonyms for

buy

[ bahy ]

verb (used with object)

bought, buying.
  1. to acquire the possession of, or the right to, by paying or promising to pay an equivalent, especially in money; purchase.

    Antonyms:

  2. to acquire by exchange or concession:

    to buy favor with flattery.

  3. to hire or obtain the services of:

    The Yankees bought a new center fielder.

  4. to bribe:

    Most public officials cannot be bought.

  5. to be the monetary or purchasing equivalent of:

    Ten dollars buys less than it used to.

  6. Chiefly Theology. to redeem; ransom.
  7. Cards. to draw or be dealt (a card):

    He bought an ace.

  8. Informal.
    1. to accept or believe:

      I don't buy that explanation.

    2. to be deceived by:

      He bought the whole story.



verb (used without object)

bought, buying.
  1. to be or become a purchaser.

noun

  1. an act or instance of buying.
  2. something bought or to be bought; purchase:

    That coat was a sensible buy.

  3. a bargain:

    The couch was a real buy.

verb phrase

  1. to purchase a share, interest, or membership in:

    They tried to buy into the club but were not accepted.

  2. to lower or reduce (the mortgage interest rate) by means of a buy-down.
  3. to secure all of (an owner or partner's) share or interest in an enterprise:

    She bought out an established pharmacist and is doing very well.

  4. Also buy into.
    1. to buy a supply of; accumulate a stock of.
    2. to buy back one's own possession at an auction.
    3. to undertake a buy-in.
  5. to get rid of (a claim, opposition, etc.) by payment; purchase the noninterference of; bribe:

    The corrupt official bought off those who might expose him.

  6. to buy as much as one can of something or as much as is offered for sale:

    He bought up the last of the strawberries at the fruit market.

buy

/ ɪ /

verb

  1. to acquire by paying or promising to pay a sum of money or the equivalent; purchase
  2. to be capable of purchasing

    money can't buy love

  3. to acquire by any exchange or sacrifice

    to buy time by equivocation

  4. intr to act as a buyer
  5. to bribe or corrupt; hire by or as by bribery
  6. slang.
    to accept as true, practical, etc
  7. intrfoll byinto to purchase shares of (a company)

    we bought into General Motors

  8. tr theol (esp of Christ) to ransom or redeem (a Christian or the soul of a Christian)
  9. have bought it slang.
    to be killed
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a purchase (often in the phrases good or bad buy )
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Usage

The use of off after buy as in I bought this off my neighbour was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptable in informal contexts
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Other Word Forms

  • ܲa· adjective
  • ԴDz·ܲiԲ adjective noun
  • ·ܲ verb (used with object) prebought prebuying
  • ·ܲ verb rebought rebuying
  • un·ܲa· adjective
  • ܲ·ܲiԲ adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of buy1

First recorded before 1000; Middle English byen, variant of byggen, buggen, Old English bycgan; cognate with Old Saxon buggjan, Gothic bugjan “to buy,” Old Norse byggja “to lend, rent”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of buy1

Old English bycgan ; related to Old Norse byggja to let out, lend, Gothic bugjan to buy
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. buy it, Slang. to get killed:

    He bought it at Dunkirk.

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Synonym Study

Buy, purchase imply obtaining or acquiring property or goods for a price. Buy is the common and informal word, applying to any such transaction: to buy a house, vegetables at the market. Purchase is more formal and may connote buying on a larger scale, in a finer store, and the like: to purchase a year's supplies.
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Nearby, one of the thousands of buyers that flock to this market every day is negotiating a price to buy more than 100 robots that turn into cars in a series of beeps and buzzes.

From

“Donda didn’t really have any structure. They had books that they had bought that were just sitting on shelves. Kids were just playing all day. It was just a free-for-all.”

From

A longtime Altadenan, Garcia moved to the community as a child because it was one of the few places where her parents — who were Japanese and Mexican — were able to buy a home.

From

She had saved enough money to pay move-in costs and buy equipment for a home business offering eyelash services.

From

Separately, The Times found that UFLAC’s former treasurer, Domingo Albarran Jr., bought a union car at an alleged discount — and then reported an even lower sale price to the state to avoid paying taxes.

From

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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.

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Buxtonbuy a pig in a poke