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 should buy it because you want and/or need a death benefit that will last your entire life, because first and foremost, this is life insurance.”
From MarketWatch • Jun. 16, 2026
"If I'm going to the supermarket and I've gone a bit over budget I'll think, why save money? What's the point, you'll be dead next week, just buy it," said Heather.
From BBC • Jun. 16, 2026
Customers likely were thinking this item might not arrive, rather than “this item is popular, buy it quick,” says Mitrofanov.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
Private equity firm Thoma Bravo bought the company in 2014 and took it public in 2017, only to buy it back in 2022 for $6.9 billion.
From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026
We sat on the edge of Willem’s bed gulping down the precious bun; I suspected that to buy it Willem had had to go without lunch.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
