buy

[ bahy ]

/ baɪ /

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See synonyms for: buy / bought / buying / buyable on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), bought, buy·ing.

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

to acquire by exchange or concession: to buy favor with flattery.

to hire or obtain the services of: The Yankees bought a new center fielder.

to bribe: Most public officials cannot be bought.

to be the monetary or purchasing equivalent of: Ten dollars buys less than it used to.

Chiefly Theology. to redeem; ransom.

Cards. to draw or be dealt (a card): He bought an ace.

Informal.

to accept or believe: I don't buy that explanation.
to be deceived by: He bought the whole story.

verb (used without object), bought, buy·ing.

to be or become a purchaser.

noun

an act or instance of buying.

something bought or to be bought; purchase: That coat was a sensible buy.

a bargain: The couch was a real buy.

Verb Phrases

buy down, to lower or reduce (the mortgage interest rate) by means of a buy-down.

buy in,

to buy a supply of; accumulate a stock of.
to buy back one's own possession at an auction.
to undertake a buy-in.

Also buy into.

buy into, to purchase a share, interest, or membership in: They tried to buy into the club but were not accepted.

buy off, 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.

buy out, 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.

buy up, 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.

OPPOSITES FOR buy

1 sell.

See antonyms for buy on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms about buy

buy it, Slang. to get killed: He bought it at Dunkirk.

Origin of buy

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

synonym study for buy

1. 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.

OTHER WORDS FROM buy

buy·a·ble, adjectivenon·buy·ing, adjective, nounpre·buy, verb (used with object), pre·bought, pre·buy·ing.re·buy, verb, re·bought, re·buy·ing.

un·buy·a·ble, adjectiveun·buy·ing, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH buy

buy , by, bye

Words nearby buy

butyryl, butyryl group, buxom, Buxtehude, Buxton, buy, buy a pig in a poke, buyback, buy boat, buy-down, buyer

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use buy in a sentence

The craft of buying campaigns is going offshore as the platforms continue to automate the process around ad buys.
‘Chronically understaffed’: Confessions of an agency exec on the cost of online advertising’s Covid growth|Seb Joseph|February 11, 2021|Digiday
Last month Goldman Sachs had listed its stock as a good buy, in the expectation that the company will rebound this year and catch up with the other oil majors that had been faring better on the market.
Oil companies’ losses in 2020 were staggering. And that was before the government focused on climate change.|Will Englund|February 4, 2021|Washington Post
Second, terms mentioning keywords such as “price” or “discount” are strong signals of buy intent, you should bundle them together.
Google Ads new features: Five tips for your Google Ads campaigns|Martin Romerio|February 3, 2021|Search Engine Watch
A lot of these, you know, so-called meme stocks were, you know, going viral on social media, and people were people are joining Robinhood and there was a lot of net buy activity on them.
Elon Musk busts Clubhouse limit, fans stream to YouTube, he switches to interviewing Robinhood CEO|Mike Butcher|February 1, 2021|TechCrunch

Her campaign paid $656,000 for advertising, polling, media buys and other services to a company called Neighborhood Research and Media, according to Federal Election Commission reports.
How Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, promoter of QAnon’s baseless theories, rose with support from key Republicans|Michael Kranish, Reis Thebault, Stephanie McCrummen|January 30, 2021|Washington Post
Why would “they” want to crush him just for attempting to buy something twenty years ago?
Phylicia Rashad and the Cult of Cosby Truthers|Stereo Williams|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“This is the only place in the souk you can buy safety pins,” he said.
The Photographer Who Gave Up Manhattan for Marrakech|Liza Foreman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“For conveniences and shops where you can buy what you need,” it is much easier, he said.
The Photographer Who Gave Up Manhattan for Marrakech|Liza Foreman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
For instance, Best Buy has over 40 million members in its customer loyalty program, Reward Zone.
Best Buy Punches Back at Amazon|William O’Connor|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Best Buy is caught up in the breakneck world of technological innovation.
Best Buy Punches Back at Amazon|William O’Connor|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If Mac had been alone he would have made the post by sundown, for the Mounted Police rode picked horses, the best money could buy.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
"Buy something for your wife that-is-to-be," he said to his grand-nephew, as he handed him the folded paper.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
Alessandro had hard work to give civil answers to the men who wished to buy Benito and the wagon for quarter of their value.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
It is very old, they say, and worth a great deal of money, if you could find the right man to buy it.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
For us to take her place it became necessary for us to loan before we could sell and buy.
Readings in Money and Banking|Chester Arthur Phillips

British Dictionary definitions for buy

buy

/ (baɪ) /

verb buys, buying or bought (mainly tr)

to acquire by paying or promising to pay a sum of money or the equivalent; purchase

to be capable of purchasingmoney can't buy love

to acquire by any exchange or sacrificeto buy time by equivocation

(intr) to act as a buyer

to bribe or corrupt; hire by or as by bribery

slang to accept as true, practical, etc

(intr foll by into) to purchase shares of (a company)we bought into General Motors

(tr) theol (esp of Christ) to ransom or redeem (a Christian or the soul of a Christian)

have bought it slang to be killed

noun

a purchase (often in the phrases good or bad buy)

See also buy in, buy into, buy off, buy out, buy up

Word Origin for buy

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

usage for buy

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

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