buy
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.
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.
to be or become a purchaser.
an act or instance of buying.
something bought or to be bought; purchase: That coat was a sensible buy.
a bargain: The couch was a real buy.
buy down, to lower or reduce (the mortgage interest rate) by means of a buy-down.
buy in, : Also buy into.
to buy a supply of; accumulate a stock of.
to buy back one's own possession at an auction.
to undertake a buy-in.
buy into, to purchase a share, interest, or membership in: They tried to buy into the club but were not accepted.
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.
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.
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 about buy
buy it, Slang. to get killed: He bought it at Dunkirk.
Origin of buy
1synonym study For buy
Opposites for buy
Other words from buy
- buy·a·ble, adjective
- non·buy·ing, adjective, noun
- pre·buy, verb (used with object), pre·bought, pre·buy·ing.
- re·buy, verb, re·bought, re·buy·ing.
- un·buy·a·ble, adjective
- un·buy·ing, adjective
Words that may be confused with buy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use buy in a sentence
This can be done through not replacing people who leave and buying out others.
Now, it seems, they're mulling one use for the money: buying out 300-400 of the system's weakest teachers.
Will Newark Use Zuckerberg Money to Buy Out Bad Teachers? | Megan McArdle | September 17, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTBut she is greatly interested in certain shops that she is buying out, and especially in her visits to her tailor.
Confidence | Henry JamesThere's one Crippen, who considered buying out Sir Herbert's business.
In the Onyx Lobby | Carolyn WellsRalegh added to the estate by buying out leases with his own money, and by the purchase of several adjacent properties.
Sir Walter Ralegh | William Stebbing
Cobbett, who saw them rise, reviled the stockjobbers who were buying out the old families.
The English Utilitarians, Volume I. | Leslie StephenIn buying out the Maltese Cross, Roosevelt had bought only cattle and horses; not buildings or land.
Roosevelt in the Bad Lands | H. Hagedorn.
British Dictionary definitions for buy
/ (baɪ) /
to acquire by paying or promising to pay a sum of money or the equivalent; purchase
to be capable of purchasing: money can't buy love
to acquire by any exchange or sacrifice: to buy time by equivocation
(intr) to act as a buyer
to bribe or corrupt; hire by or as by bribery
slang to accept as true, practical, etc
(intr foll by into) to purchase shares of (a company): we bought into General Motors
(tr) theol (esp of Christ) to ransom or redeem (a Christian or the soul of a Christian)
have bought it slang to be killed
a purchase (often in the phrases good or bad buy)
Origin of buy
1usage For buy
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
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