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.
And she vowed only to buy something if she could afford to "buy it three times".
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Some of my better local farmers markets sell it in sweet little rounds, but you can also buy it from your local supermarket.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
“Am I going to buy it because I want to bathe in a pickle? No,” said Lucas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Fermi wouldn’t be required to commit money or issue debt to build the plant but would have the option to buy it in a decade.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
“I’d rather buy it from you,” I added.
From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez
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.
