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.
UK airlines have insisted they are "not currently seeing a shortage of jet fuel" as they buy it in advance and airports maintain stocks.
From BBC • Apr. 25, 2026
"I think we'd just buy it," Trump said in the Oval Office.
From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026
“Why did I buy it? Because I believed they would make it happen,” Sigtermans said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026
Here’s why one analyst thinks now is the time to buy it.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026
They thought the traders had sold all this insurance without having any place they could go to buy it back.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
