buy
[baɪ] verb, noun
Forms buys buying bought boughten buyest boughtest buyeth buie
- verb (transitive, ditransitive) To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods. “Who'd Father buy the car for? He bought it for me, not for you.”
- verb (transitive, ditransitive) To obtain, especially by some sacrifice. “I've bought material comfort by foregoing my dreams.”
- verb (transitive, archaic) To suffer consequences for (something) through being deprived of something; to pay for (something one has done).
- verb (transitive) To bribe. “He tried to buy me with gifts, but I wouldn't give up my beliefs.”
- verb (transitive) To be equivalent to in value. “The dollar doesn't buy as much as it used to.”
- verb (transitive, informal) to accept as true; to believe “I'm not going to buy your stupid excuses anymore!”
- verb (intransitive) To make a purchase or purchases, to treat (for a drink, meal or gift) “She buys for Federated.”
- verb (poker slang, transitive) To make a bluff, usually a large one. “Smith tried to buy the pot on the river with a huge bluff.”
- noun Something which is bought; a purchase. “At only $30, the second-hand kitchen table was a great buy.”
Synonyms
cheap purchase swallow accept believe take on make a buy aby procure snap up bargain steal bribe corrupt grease one's palms
Antonyms
cheap sell vend disbelieve reject pitch barter pay steal sale
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.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To acquire the ownership of (property) by giving an accepted price or consideration therefor, or by agreeing to do so; to acquire by the payment of a price or value; to purchase; --opposed to sell.
- verb To acquire or procure by something given or done in exchange, literally or figuratively; to get, at a cost or sacrifice; to buy pleasure with pain.
- verb To negotiate or treat about a purchase.
Etymology [OE. buggen, buggen, bien, AS. bycgan, akin to OS. buggean, Goth. bugjan.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “buy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details