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Synonyms

buy out

British  

verb

  1. to purchase the ownership, controlling interest, shares, etc, of (a company, etc)

  2. to gain the release of (a person) from the armed forces by payment of money

  3. to pay (a person) once and for all to give up (property, interest, etc)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the purchase of a company, esp by its former management or staff See also leveraged buyout management buyout

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
buy out Idioms  

  1. Purchase the entire stock, business rights, or interests of a concern. For example, A rival store owner offered to buy out my grandfather, but he refused, [Late 1200s]

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.

His vision, Don Guinnip says, was that whoever stayed on the farm would buy out the others.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 15, 2026

It’s a hassle being a landlord, and selling the condo would dramatically improve your cash flow and allow you to buy out your brother-in-law.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 8, 2026

But Sale, whose co-owner Simon Orange sold his investment business for a reported £1bn in January 2025, could strike an agreement to buy out the final season of Kpoku's deal.

From BBC • Jan. 9, 2026

According to newspaper L'Equipe, Jaminet took out two loans to buy out his 450,000-euro release clause at Perpignan.

From Barron's • Nov. 24, 2025

Sneaking it out bucket by bucket until he had enough to buy out his indenture and burn off his work tattoos.

From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi

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.