buy (bī)

v., bought (bôt), buy·ing, buys.

v.tr.

1. To acquire in exchange for money or its equivalent; purchase. See Regional 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.

n.

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 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

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

buy out

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

buy up

1. To purchase all that is available of.

idioms:

buy it Slang.

1. To be killed.

buy time

1. 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).

buy the farm Slang.

1. To die, especially suddenly or violently.

[Middle English, from Old English bycgan.]

buyable buy'a·ble adj.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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