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buyer

American  
[bahy-er] / ˈbaɪ ər /

noun

  1. a person who buys; purchaser.

  2. a purchasing agent, as for a department or chain store.

buyer British  
/ ˈbaɪə /

noun

  1. a person who buys; purchaser; customer

  2. a person employed to buy merchandise, materials, etc, as for a shop or factory

"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

Etymology

Origin of buyer

First recorded in 1150–1200, buyer is from the Middle English word beger, bier. See buy, -er 1

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.

A call option gives the buyer the right to purchase an underlying asset at a specified price within a specified period.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 21, 2026

The more recent buyer is Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence.

From Barron's • Apr. 20, 2026

Its buyer was the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri, and the seat is to go on exhibition, the auctioneer said.

From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026

Tehran has a willing buyer for its oil in China, where independent “teapot” refiners scooped up the cargoes, often at major discounts to benchmark oil prices.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Worth never sold the Duchess because he knew it would be almost impossible to find the right buyer.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

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.