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buy

[bahy]

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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.

to acquire by exchange or concession: to buy favor with flattery.

to hire or obtain the services of: The Yankees bought a new center fielder.

to bribe: Most public officials cannot be bought.

to be the monetary or purchasing equivalent of: Ten dollars buys less than it used to.

EXPAND

Chiefly Theology. to redeem; ransom.

Cards. to draw or be dealt (a card): He bought an ace.

Informal.

to accept or believe: I don't buy that explanation.

to be deceived by: He bought the whole story.

COLLAPSE

verb (used without object)

to be or become a purchaser.

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Buy is one of our favorite verbs.

So is kibitz. Does it mean:

to run away hurriedly; flee.

chat, to converse

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noun

10.

an act or instance of buying.

11.

something bought or to be bought; purchase: That coat was a sensible buy.

12.

a bargain: The couch was a real buy.

Verb phrases

13.

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

14.

buy in,

to buy a supply of; accumulate a stock of.

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

to undertake a buy-in.

Also, buy into.

15.

buy into, to purchase a share, interest, or membership in: They tried to buy into the club but were not accepted.

16.

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.

17.

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.

EXPAND

18.

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.

COLLAPSE

Idiom

19.

buy it, Slang. to get killed: He bought it at Dunkirk.

Origin:
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

Related forms

buy·a·ble, adjective

non·buy·ing, adjective, noun

pre·buy, verb (used with object), -bought, -buy·ing.

re·buy, verb, -bought, -buy·ing.

un·buy·a·ble, adjective

EXPAND

un·buy·ing, adjective

COLLAPSE

Can be confused: buy, by, bye (see synonym note at the current entry).

Synonyms
1. 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.

Antonyms
1. sell.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To buy

Example Sentences

Real estate agents across the country are aggressively making the case that now is a good time to buy a house.

Previously, we've covered why you would want to buy and sell secondhand tech and how to sell.

Traditional financial exchanges had a trading floor on which members would gather to buy and sell securities.

EXPAND

Real estate agents across the country are aggressively making the case that now is a good time to buy a house.

Previously, we've covered why you would want to buy and sell secondhand tech and how to sell.

Traditional financial exchanges had a trading floor on which members would gather to buy and sell securities.

One of the best ways to conserve water is to buy recycled goods, and to recycle your stuff when you're done with it.

What to do if your mattress company does not take your old mattress with them when you buy a new one.

If you don't have time, pre-made platters are also pretty easy to buy.

Small stems are more likely to become infected, so buy the biggest plant possible, and try not to break new shoots when planting.

Maybe there really isn't anything that you can't buy online.

Librarians have been saying they want and need to buy more scholarly monographs in electronic format.

The ratio has been no use as a buy signal in the past.

Well, guess what has pesticides in it--all your veggis and fruit unless you buy organic.

People buy according to your taste and economic status.

Even if they weren't waterproof, they'd still be a good buy.

Thanks to print-on-demand technology, readers will be able to buy hard copies of out-of-print.

Then again, it might have to buy extra allowances on the open market.

Suggest that the college use some of its acquisitions budget to buy e-books from.

Earlier this year, a friend of mine decided to buy an iPad.

My column this week revisits the question of whether to buy a home or rent one.

But don't overdo it-the public is wiser than the glitterati, and will soon scent a crude attempt to buy popularity.

The next time you buy a cell phone, take a close look at the display panel.

The best places to buy them are directly at the factories that continue to produce them using traditional methods.

From albacore to ahi, what to buy and how to cook it.

Buy your father a decent gift this year, instead of the usual junk you give.

The best way to buy low in fantasy baseball is to pursue the players who really have bottomed out.

I'd think you'd want to buy pre-split shares if that's what you are interested in.

Governments spent a fortune encouraging people to buy houses.

He might drop by an antiques store to buy eerie dolls or emerge from a hobby shop with a jar of snakes or mice cured in formalin.

The best fish to buy frozen, how to thaw it, and other essential frozen fish information.

They include a folding scooter, a futuristic city car and a sportbike we'd buy right now.

From figuring out which gadget to buy and how to get the best deal on it.

Higher-education professionals buy more books than any other group of consumers.

Companies would then buy cheap credits and continue doing business as usual rather than cutting their own emissions.

Back then, it was an elegant-even over-the-top-shopping hall for the townsfolk who'd come here to buy their produce.

Here's the skinny on where to buy it and how to cook it right.

Parents say they generally buy their child a phone for.

Faculty work would be a fairly low skill level line of work, and it should all be pretty cheap to buy.

During a typical credit cycle it is among the first to use cheap financing to buy companies.

If the bottle has a date, buy sake that is less than a year old.

There is no reason to buy vinaigrette when it is so easy to make.

In terms of consumption utility, giving a dollar to the beggar to buy a loaf of bread may well be more efficient.

Another held that they had been melted down to buy arms.

Buy and plant flower bulbs now for drifts of spring bloom.

Running counter to a national trend, the medical school wants to buy a teaching facility.

The more familiar customers are with the add-on item, the more likely they are to buy it.

There are no stands selling carved or sewn crafts because there are no tourists to buy them.

Buy the commemorative poster or individual historic posters more.

If you want to burn a cross on a black family's lawn or buy an election by contributing millions.

Many enthusiasts overplan and buy more than they can carry.

Buy your favorite varieties––only with more flavor and no pesticides.

Then they buy the materials and hope someone will want to use them.

It's why my friends have to buy hats for their little girl and slather her with sunblock every time she goes outside.

Be patient when you buy a lilac: plants usually don't bloom.

If you do feel an obligation to buy something, you can buy something small.

It's why my friends have to buy hats for their little girl and slather her with sunblock every time she goes o.

When you buy any pesticide, read the label carefully.

In the pharmaceutical industry, universities appear to have found a partner willing and able to buy big chunks of their research.

From now on, it's basically going to be all the free speech that money can buy.

Buy plants in bloom, since some selections are more blue than others.

Globalizing markets have connected us with faraway peoples and places, allowing us to buy cheap.

Buy mature plants, start new plants from cuttings, or grow from seed in spring.

Or, if you are wearing a black suit, buy opaque tights instead--they don't run.

To avoid the problem, buy healthy bulbs from reliable sources.

Today you cannot order a coffee, buy a bagel, or pay for a photocopy without being asked to leave your change behind for.

If you buy an infected rose as a bare-root plant, you won't know it has the virus until it leafs out.

Work with your publisher to find ways to reach the people who can reasonably be expected to buy your book.

Date palms hybridize freely, so buy these trees from a reliable nursery that knows the seed or plant source.

Buy a ticket online beforehand, or park your car in the line for the ferry, then dash out and buy your ticket in the office.

It may be tempting to buy plants already in bloom, but younger ones perform better in the long run.

Check the label of each cheese you buy for nutrition information.

Buy papayas with some golden color and smooth, unblemished skin.

The easiest thing to do is buy new hardware that's the same size as the old.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

buy (baɪ)

—vb (foll by into) , buys, buying, bought
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 have bought it to be killed

—n
10.	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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

buy

O.E. bycgan (pt. bohte) from P.Gmc. *bugjanan (cf. O.S. buggjan, Goth. bugjan), of unknown origin, not found outside Gmc. The surviving spelling is southwest England dialect; the word was generally pronounced in O.E. and M.E. with a -dg- sound as "budge," or "bidge." Meaning "believe, accept as true"

EXPAND

first recorded 1926.

COLLAPSE

Slang Dictionary

buy definition

n.
a purchase. : Man, this is a great buy.
tv.
to believe something. : It sounds good to me, but will your wife buy it?

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Slang

best buy buy so's woof ticket buy it

buy it buy the big one

Matching Quote

"An inch of gold can not buy an inch of time."

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