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.
When the newlyweds found an apartment in downtown Manhattan, Burden used the proceeds of a family trust to buy it, with James as a joint owner.
From Los Angeles Times
She’s hated that dirt bike since the day Dad bought it last winter.
From Literature
“A lot of what we grow are beautiful watermelons, or carrots or tomatoes, and depending on what the price is, people may or may not buy it,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times
In the same year, Elkholy flagged to Epstein that a Brazilian fashion magazine was up for sale and suggested that they could potentially buy it together.
From BBC
Disruptions caused by the Iran war could increase unwanted inventory among full-priced retailers, and off-price chains can buy it at cheaper prices.
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.
