buy
verb (used with object)
to acquire the possession of, or the right to, by paying or promising to pay an equivalent, especially in money; purchase.
was buying
-
past progressiveof buy.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
Another trade that went up in smoke, money managers say, was buying French and Italian bonds and selling interest-rate swaps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
I was probably 12 at the time, and I was buying contemporary Motown records, Rick James and DeBarge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
"Horrified" by how much she was buying, she began using diversionary tactics to control her spending.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
To take advantage of first-time-buyer benefits, I was buying alone in Singapore, but my credit cards were issued in both my name and my husband’s name — too complicated, they said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
But since no one in their right mind was buying homes there anymore, she couldn’t make a single sale.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
