buy it

Idioms  

1. Suffer a severe reversal, as in If they can't raise the money in time, they'll buy it . [ Slang ; mid-1900s]

2. 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.

3. Believe it; see buy something .

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Example Sentences

Coming off of 2025, market volatility saw farmers across the country hesitant to buy their year’s fertilizer early, opting instead to buy it closer to the start of the spring growing season.

From Salon • May 15, 2026

But given an unpredictable backdrop marked by higher costs, the Iran war and anxious consumers, investors appeared not to buy it.

From MarketWatch • May 7, 2026

CAHILLANE: There’s no such thing as a forever brand, where because it has so much salience people are just going to continue to buy it.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026

Elon Musk is paying a pittance to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit that said he failed to timely disclose his stake in Twitter as he was preparing to buy it in 2022.

From Barron's • May 5, 2026

“You can’t buy it, far as I know,” he said.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

Related Words

• cease
• close
• conclude
• depart
• die
• finish
• lapse
• pass
• pass away
• quit
• run out
• terminate