buy

(bī)

v. bought (bôt), buy·ing, buys

v.tr.

1. To acquire in exchange for money or its equivalent; purchase. See Note at boughten.

2. To be capable of purchasing: "Certainly there are lots of things in life that money won't buy" (Ogden Nash).

3. To acquire by sacrifice, exchange, or trade: wanted to buy love with gifts.

4. To bribe: tried to buy a judge.

5. Informal To accept the truth or feasibility of: The officer didn't buy my lame excuse for speeding.

v.intr.

To purchase something; act as a purchaser.

1. Something bought or for sale; a purchase.

2. An act of purchasing: a drug buy.

3. Something that is underpriced; a bargain.

Phrasal Verbs:

buy down

To pay an upfront fee to reduce (an interest rate) over part or all of the term of a loan.

buy into

1. To acquire a stake or interest in: bought into a risky real estate venture.

2. Informal To believe in, especially wholeheartedly or uncritically: couldn't buy into that brand of conservatism.

buy off

To bribe (an official, for example) in order to secure improper cooperation or gain exemption from a regulation or legal consequence.

buy out

To purchase the entire stock, business rights, or interests of.

buy up

To purchase all that is available of.

Idioms:

buy it Slang

To be killed.

buy the farm Slang

To die, especially suddenly or violently.

buy time

To increase the time available for a specific purpose: "A moderate recovery thus buys time for Congress and the Administration to whittle the deficit" (G. David Wallace).

[Middle English bien, beyen, from Old English bycgan, byg-; akin to Gothic bugjan, from Germanic *bugjanan, of unknown origin.]

buy′a·ble adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

buying

(ˈbaɪɪŋ)

a. the action or an instance of purchasing something

b. (as modifier): buying patterns.

2. (Economics) (as modifier): buying patterns.

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

buying - the act of buying; "buying and selling fill their days"; "shrewd purchasing requires considerable knowledge"

purchasing

purchase - the acquisition of something for payment; "they closed the purchase with a handshake"

shopping - searching for or buying goods or services; "went shopping for a reliable plumber"; "does her shopping at the mall rather than down town"

catalog buying, mail-order buying - buying goods to be shipped through the mail

viatication, viaticus - purchasing insurance policies for cash from terminally ill policy holders

Translations

Bezug Einkauf

compra

покупка

buying

[ˈbaɪɪŋ]

A. N → compra f

B. CPD buying power N → poder m adquisitivo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"The fact that I was buying upon information would send the shares up at once.

View in context

Nobody beneath the nobleman, or the gentleman of ancient lineage, so much as thought of buying a modern picture.

The daring innovators started with the new notion of buying a picture which they themselves could admire and appreciate, and for the genuineness of which the artist was still living to vouch.

View in context

[1331b] separate from this for buying and selling, which should be so situated as to be commodious for the reception of goods both by sea and land.

View in context

Why, I'm buying it, upon my honor, simply, believe me, for the glory of it, that Ryabinin, and no one else, should have bought the copse of Oblonsky.

View in context

The right kind of horses was hard to buy, and, as he put it, it was like pulling a tooth to get a farmer to part with one, despite the fact that he had been authorized to increase the buying sum by as much as fifty dollars.

View in context

"It drives me past patience to hear you all talking o' best things, and buying in this, that, and the other, such as silver and chany.

But what's the use o' buying the teapot, when there's the linen and spoons and everything to go, and some of 'em with your full name,--and when it's got that straight spout, too."

View in context

All you have to do is buy, buy, buy, and keep on buying to the last stroke, when the directors declare the double dividend.

View in context

And, furthermore, they bought good stuff, too, for were they not buying his?

View in context

There was more in this buying of drinks than mere quantity.

View in context

The latest round of 13F filings from institutional investors were out this week, revealing to the world the stocks that some of the richest and most successful investors have been buying and selling.

Q2 13F Roundup: How Buffett, Einhorn, Ackman And Others Adjusted Their Portfolios