buy-in
Americannoun
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an act or instance of buying in.
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the deliberate submission of a false bid, too low to be met, in order to win a contract.
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Poker. the chips purchased by a player from the banker, occasionally a set amount required to enter a specific competition or game.
verb
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(tr) to buy back for the owner (an item in an auction) at or below the reserve price
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(intr) to purchase shares in a company
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(intr) to buy goods or securities on the open market against a defaulting seller, charging this seller with any market differences
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Also: buy into. informal (tr) to pay money to secure a position or place for (someone, esp oneself) in some organization, esp a business or club
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to purchase (goods, etc) in large quantities
to buy in for the winter
noun
Etymology
Origin of buy-in
Noun use of verb phrase buy in
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.
See Examples For:
OpenAI "plan to hand Washington a 5% stake" in the company as it "seeks political buy-in", the Financial Times reports.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
In 1980, Texas, through the dogged advocacy of Democratic state Rep. Al Edwards and the eventual buy-in of Republican Gov. Bill Clements, became the first state to recognize Juneteenth as a holiday.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2026
All this, of course, assumes both a successful round of peace talks between Washington and Tehran, and buy-in from Republican lawmakers who face a difficult reelection landscape when midterm canvassing begins in early September.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
With Brunson on board and team boss Leon Rose assembling the parts, Brown promoted a buy-in which has taken a starving franchise to the edge of its first title in 53 years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
I wanted to make sure we had buy-in from everyone we’d need to make the initiative a success, to anticipate any objections that might be raised.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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Now it’s public, and there’s volatility to bear as index funds buy in and lockups expire, bringing additional shares to market.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
Every city he wants to buy in is somewhere I wouldn’t want to live.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
The UK's stock of AS90 self-propelled artillery are so depleted that the MoD has had to buy in Swedish Archer systems to replace it.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
Utilities will have to buy in to the process if nuclear is going to get off the ground.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
What Cubans couldn’t buy in Cuba—unless it was on the black market, and that was usually expensive—had to be brought in from abroad.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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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.