buy

American  

[bahy] / baɪ /

verb (used with object)

• buys,
  present (3rd person singular)
• bought,
  past participle,  past
• buying
  present participle

1. to acquire the possession of, or the right to, by paying or promising to pay an equivalent, especially in money; purchase.

   Antonyms:

   sell

2. to acquire by exchange or concession.

   to buy favor with flattery.

3. to hire or obtain the services of.

   The Yankees bought a new center fielder.

4. to bribe.

   Most public officials cannot be bought.

5. to be the monetary or purchasing equivalent of.

   Ten dollars buys less than it used to.

6. Chiefly Theology. to redeem; ransom.

7. Cards. to draw or be dealt (a card).

   He bought an ace.

8. Informal.

   1. to accept or believe.

      I don't buy that explanation.

   2. to be deceived by.

      He bought the whole story.

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verb (used without object)

• buys,
  present (3rd person singular)
• bought,
  past participle,  past
• buying
  present participle

1. to be or become a purchaser.

noun

• buys
  plural

1. an act or instance of buying.

2. something bought or to be bought; purchase.

   That coat was a sensible buy.

3. a bargain.

   The couch was a real buy.

verb phrase

1. buy into to purchase a share, interest, or membership in.

   They tried to buy into the club but were not accepted.

2. buy down to lower or reduce (the mortgage interest rate) by means of a buy-down.

3. buy out to secure all of (an owner or partner's) share or interest in an enterprise.

   She bought out an established pharmacist and is doing very well.

4. buy in Also buy into.

   1. to buy a supply of; accumulate a stock of.

   2. to buy back one's own possession at an auction.

   3. to undertake a buy-in.

5. buy off to get rid of (a claim, opposition, etc.) by payment; purchase the noninterference of; bribe.

   The corrupt official bought off those who might expose him.

6. buy up to buy as much as one can of something or as much as is offered for sale.

   He bought up the last of the strawberries at the fruit market.

idioms

1. buy it, to get killed.

   He bought it at Dunkirk.

buy British  

/ baɪ /

verb

1. to acquire by paying or promising to pay a sum of money or the equivalent; purchase

2. to be capable of purchasing

   money can't buy love

3. to acquire by any exchange or sacrifice

   to buy time by equivocation

4. (intr) to act as a buyer

5. to bribe or corrupt; hire by or as by bribery

6. slang to accept as true, practical, etc

7. to purchase shares of (a company)

   we bought into General Motors

8. (tr) theol (esp of Christ) to ransom or redeem (a Christian or the soul of a Christian)

9. slang to be killed

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noun

1. a purchase (often in the phrases good or bad buy )

Usage

The use of off after buy as in I bought this off my neighbour was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptable in informal contexts

Synonym Usage

Buy, purchase imply obtaining or acquiring property or goods for a price. Buy is the common and informal word, applying to any such transaction: to buy a house, vegetables at the market. Purchase is more formal and may connote buying on a larger scale, in a finer store, and the like: to purchase a year's supplies.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• rebuy
  verb
• prebuy
  verb (used with object)
• buyable
  adjective
• nonbuying
  adjective
• unbuyable
  adjective
• unbuying
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• buys
  plural

Participles

• buying
  present
• bought
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• buy
  simple
• buys
  simple
• have bought
  perfect
• has bought
  perfect
• am buying
  progressive
• are buying
  progressive
• is buying
  progressive
• have been buying
  perfect progressive
• has been buying
  perfect progressive

Past

• bought
  simple
• had bought
  perfect
• was buying
  progressive
• were buying
  progressive
• had been buying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will buy
  simple
• will have bought
  perfect
• will be buying
  progressive
• will have been buying
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of buy

First recorded before 1000; Middle English byen, variant of byggen, buggen, Old English bycgan; cognate with Old Saxon buggjan, Gothic bugjan “to buy,” Old Norse byggja “to lend, rent”

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Explanation

When you buy something, you pay money in order to own or obtain it. You might buy your mom a big bouquet of flowers for her birthday. When you buy furniture, food, a car, or candy, you purchase it, exchanging a certain amount of money for it, and when you call something "a buy" or "a steal," it's a real bargain. When you say, "She said she won the lottery, but I don't buy it," you mean that you don't accept that fact as the truth. Even more colloquially, to buy it can also mean "to be killed."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

buy buys bought buying

In addition to our list of October plants events, learn about local rain barrel giveaways as well as where to buy irises from the San Fernando Valley Iris Society.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

Vanessa Perez figured she had a $50 balance on a Sephora birthday gift card before heading to a store in Merrillville, Ind., near her home to buy makeup.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

The biggest myth is that somehow it doesn’t really matter when you buy stocks, because over time they will always produce spectacular returns.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026

Instacart shoppers will be able to buy from 150,000 stores, up from the current 100,000, while DoorDash will reach beyond restaurants into retail, the firms said.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

Without the annual floods, the soil was soon stripped of its richness, but with their meager harvests they could not afford to buy artificial fertilizers.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

It buys more time, more "breathing space", as it were, for the government and the prime minister's long-term strategic plans.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

That buys a chairman some leeway for no increase at any one meeting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

But with more money being spent on ad buys than ever before, it’s worth asking: do they make any difference?

From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026

“If a rescue group buys dogs and needs to place them, I’ll take them.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

From the general store, Ma buys cloth to stitch an extra set of pants and shirts for Father and me.

From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

A nonprofit bought the historic building and converted it to 13 apartments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

The 56-year-old bought a £2m Georgian mansion in Llanwenarth, near Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, in November 2025 following his divorce from wife Mindy after 23 years.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

Treasury Chief John Healey has bought himself time rather than resolving the U.K.’s fiscal problems, Sanjay Raja at Deutsche Bank says in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

He was in his late 30s when he bought, feeling that it was “just what a person does.”

From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026

Getting Momma Bear’s attention had bought George a precious few seconds of not being attacked, but Owen didn’t know what to do next.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

Before buying any individual stock, you should do your own research to form your own opinion about a company’s ability to remain competitive over the long term.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026

The AI boom has sent tech giants on an unprecedented buying spree, quintupling flash prices and shattering Apple’s supply-chain leverage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

They fear the spiralling cost of living could prevent them from finishing their education and stop them buying or renting a home big enough to start a family.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

The smart money is buying the dip in Brazil after the surprise election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026

Maybe because more was at stake than going to the pictures or buying ice cream.

From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm

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Related Words

• acquire
• get
• market
• obtain
• procure
• purchase
• take

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