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]
-
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.
-
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.
“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
Gianluca led the charge to buy it back in 2008.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
If we didn’t buy it, he couldn’t sell it.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
Some countries, such as the United Kingdom, require a prescription for melatonin, while others, including the United States, allow people to buy it over the counter.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 29, 2026
As cover, he worked as a janitor in a building where many American embassy officials lived—but apparently the KGB didn’t buy it.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
