panic buying

British

noun

the buying up of large quantities of a commodity which, it is feared, is likely to be in short supply

"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

Example Sentences

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panic buying

"Security comes first. If you can't fill up now, you'll fill up later. There are no queues or panic buying."

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Customers are entering the latest episode with sufficient inventory and a more disciplined purchasing approach, reducing the potential of panic buying, she reckons.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

News of the state of emergency led to panic buying at some petrol stations on Wednesday - with some reportedly rationing how much each customer can buy, according to local media.

From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2026

Albanese has previously sought to reassure motorists that shipments of fuel continue to arrive in Australia, and petrol shortages in rural towns stem from panic buying and distribution bottlenecks.

From Barron's ● Apr. 1, 2026

The government maintains that Australia has all the fuel it needs, but panic buying and distribution problems have created regional shortages.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 1, 2026

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023