buy-in

American  

[bahy-in] / ˈbaɪˌɪn /

noun

1. an act or instance of buying in.

2. the deliberate submission of a false bid, too low to be met, in order to win a contract.

3. Poker. the chips purchased by a player from the banker, occasionally a set amount required to enter a specific competition or game.

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buy in British  

verb

1. (tr) to buy back for the owner (an item in an auction) at or below the reserve price

2. (intr) to purchase shares in a company

3. (intr) to buy goods or securities on the open market against a defaulting seller, charging this seller with any market differences

4. Also: buy into.  informal (tr) to pay money to secure a position or place for (someone, esp oneself) in some organization, esp a business or club

5. to purchase (goods, etc) in large quantities

   to buy in for the winter

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noun

1. the purchase of a company by a manager or group who does not work for that company

Etymology

Origin of buy-in

Noun use of verb phrase buy in

Example Sentences

Todd Jones, a reliever on the ‘06 team, said that American players initially felt that they “don’t have anything to prove on the world stage,” leading to limited buy-in.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

Potentially, they ranked company culture third as they may place a high value on internal stakeholder buy-in and unanimity of purpose.

From Barron's • Feb. 3, 2026

"We need statutory guidance. If every school is doing the same thing, then it's fair and we'd be more likely to get the buy-in from the parents and the families that we need."

From BBC • Jan. 30, 2026

While advocates like Sobel support such regulations, they also warn that to be effective, they need buy-in from members of law enforcement.

From Salon • Jan. 29, 2026

I wanted to make sure we had buy-in from everyone we’d need to make the initiative a success, to anticipate any objections that might be raised.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama