buy it
Idioms-
Suffer a severe reversal, as in If they can't raise the money in time, they'll buy it . [ Slang ; mid-1900s]
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Be killed; die. For example, By the time we could get to the hospital, he had bought it . Originating during World War I as military slang, this term later was extended to peacetime forms of death. A later slang equivalent is buy the farm , dating from about 1950. For example, He'll soon buy the farm riding that motorcycle . According to J.E. Lighter, it alludes to training flights crashing in a farmer's field, causing the farmer to sue the government for damages sufficient to pay off the farm's mortgage. Since the pilot usually died in such a crash, he in effect bought the farm with his life.
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Believe it; see buy something .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
You pay for it when you buy it, and then you pay interest on it for years after.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
“As they add more, there’s more pressure to buy it because I like to collect things,” Leu said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026
A painting by one of Britain's leading 20th Century artists must stay in the country in the hope that one of its galleries or institutions will buy it, the government said.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
If we didn’t buy it, he couldn’t sell it.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
“Are you going to buy it, or shall I go and find somebody who will?”
From "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
