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.
There’s a saying in the retail industry, dealing with those who damage the merchandise: You break it, you buy it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 8, 2026
According to Oprah.com, Streisand wanted the house “from the moment” she saw it, and waited 11 years to buy it.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
"You don't have to read it if you don't want it. You don't have to buy it if you don't want it," she said.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
She believes the car is good enough to silence critics, but admits "the next challenge will be getting people to buy it".
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
“Well, it’s so expensive, but it’s so ugly too, isn’t it? I think they make it ugly on purpose. And yet people buy it out of sheer perversity.”
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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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.
