Word
buy
US/ˈbaɪ/
UK/bˈaɪ/
Forms
Infinitive
buy
Past
bought
Past participle
bought
Definitions
01to purchase
v. to get something by giving money for it.
v. to acquire possession of something by paying a price in money or its equivalent.
“I need to buy some milk and bread on my way home.”
“The company plans to buy several smaller competitors this year to expand its market share in the region.”
Usage
Often used ditransitively: you can buy someone something or buy something for someone.
Pitfall
I bought it to the shop.
I bought it at the shop.
Use 'at' or 'from' for the location of a purchase. 'To' suggests movement toward a place.
02to believe
v. to believe that an idea or an excuse is true.
v. to accept the truth or validity of a statement, excuse, or theory.
“He said he was late because of a dragon, but I didn't buy it.”
“The jury didn't buy the defendant's explanation for his presence at the scene, especially given the forensic evidence presented by the prosecution.”
Informal
03to bribe
v. to give someone money so they will do something dishonest for you.
v. to influence a person's actions or decisions by means of a bribe.
“The criminal tried to buy the witness's silence with a large bag of cash.”
“The investigation revealed that the corporation had attempted to buy the votes of several local officials to secure the building permit.”
Formal
04a purchase
n. something that you have bought, especially if it was a good price.
n. an instance of buying or the item that has been purchased; often used to describe the value of the transaction.
“That new laptop was a great buy because it was fifty percent off.”
“The analyst described the stock as a strong buy, citing the company's robust quarterly earnings and innovative product pipeline.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English byen, from Old English bycġan (“to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell”), from Proto-West Germanic buggjan, from Proto-Germanic bugjaną (“to buy”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European bʰūgʰ- (“to bend”), or from Proto-Indo-European bʰewgʰ- (“to take away, deliver”). Cognate with Scots buy (“to buy, purchase”), obsolete Dutch beugen (“to buy”), Old Saxon buggian, buggean (“to buy”), Old Norse byggja (“to build, settle”), Gothic 𐌱𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bugjan, “to buy”). The spelling with “u” is from the Southwest, while the pronunciation with /aɪ/ is from the East Midlands.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
Word family
Related words
Idioms
been there, done that, bought the T-shirt — Expresses the speaker's complete familiarity with a situation, with overtones of cynicism or exhaustion.
buy a dog and bark oneself — To do something that one has hired someone else to do.
buy a ticket to — Used to indicate that someone is in agreement with an assertion, statement, or suggestion.
buy and hold — A passive investment strategy where an investor purchases an asset and retains it for many years, rather than trading it frequently.
buy into — To believe (something, especially something implausible); to accept (a craze, fad, or notion) as valid.
buy it — To believe any particular assertion or idea; to support it.
buy out — to purchase the entire stock or extent of something
buy straw hats in winter — Of stocks, to buy when both demand and price are low, so as to sell when demand and price are high.
buy the farm — To die; generally, to die in battle or in a plane crash.
buy the rumor — To purchase an asset based on positive speculation or unconfirmed reports, anticipating a price rise before the positive development leading to it is confirmed by official news.
Show all 13
buy time — To purposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else.
buy to let — To purchase a property as in investment, and to let it out for rental instead of living in it
buy up — To buy the whole of; to purchase the entire stock of something.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/buy