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Webster 1913 Edition

Buy

Buy

(bī)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Bought
(ba̤t)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Buying
(bī′ĭng)
.]
[OE.
buggen
,
buggen
,
bien
, AS.
bycgan
, akin to OS.
buggean
, Goth.
bugjan
.]
1.
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
.
Buy
what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou wilt sell thy necessaries.
B. Franklin.
2.
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
.
Buy
the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Prov. xxiii. 23.
To buy again
.
See
Againbuy
.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
–
To buy off
.
(a)
To influence to compliance; to cause to bend or yield by some consideration;
as,
to buy off
conscience
.
(b)
To detach by a consideration given; as, to buy off one from a party.
–
To buy out
(a)
To buy off, or detach from.
Shak.
(b)
To purchase the share or shares of in a stock, fund, or partnership, by which the seller is separated from the company, and the purchaser takes his place;
as, A
buys out
B
.
(c)
To purchase the entire stock in trade and the good will of a business.
–
To buy in
,
to purchase stock in any fund or partnership.
–
To buy on credit
,
to purchase, on a promise, in fact or in law, to make payment at a future day.
–
To buy the refusal
(of anything),
to give a consideration for the right of purchasing, at a fixed price, at a future time.

Buy

,
Verb.
I.
To negotiate or treat about a purchase.
I will
buy
with you, sell with you.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

Buy

BUY

,
Verb.
T.
pret. and pp. bought. pron. bawt.]
1.
To acquire the property, right or title to any thing, by paying a consideration or an equivalent in money. It differs from barter only in this, that in barter the consideration or equivalent is some species of commodity; in purchase,the consideration is money paid or promised. To purchase; to acquire by paying a price to the satisfaction of the seller; opposed to sell.
2.
To procure by a consideration given, or by something that is deemed worth the thing bought; to procure at a price; as, to buy pleasure with praise; to buy favor with flattery.
3.
To bribe; to corrupt or pervert the judgment, by paying a consideration.
To buy off, to influence to compliance; to cause to bend or yield by some consideration, as to buy off conscience; to detach by a consideration given, as to buy off one from a party.
To buy out, to buy off, or detach from.
1.
To purchase the share or shares of a person in a stock, fund, or partnership, by which the seller is separated from the company,and the purchaser takes his place, as, A buys out B. To purchase stock in any fund or partnership, is to buy in.
To buy on credit, is to purchase a thing, on a promise in fact or in law, to make payment at a future day.
To buy the refusal, is to give money for the right of purchasing at a fixed price at a future time.
To buy the small pox, in South Wales, is to receive it by inoculation.
In popular language, to buy is to pay dear for, as in Chaucer.

BUY

,
Verb.
I.
To negotiate, or treat about a purchase.
I will buy with you and sell with you.

Definition 2024

buy

buy

English

Verb

buy ‎(third-person singular simple present buys, present participle buying, simple past bought, past participle bought or (rare, dialectal) boughten)

  1. (transitive) To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods
    I'm going to buy my father something nice for his birthday.‎
    • Benjamin Franklin
      Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou wilt sell thy necessaries.
  2. (transitive) To obtain by some sacrifice.
    I've bought material comfort by foregoing my dreams.‎
    • Bible, Proverbs xxiii. 23
      Buy the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
  3. (transitive) To bribe.
    He tried to buy me with gifts, but I wouldn't give up my beliefs.‎
  4. (transitive) To be equivalent to in value.
    The dollar doesn't buy as much as it used to.‎
  5. (transitive, informal) to accept as true; to believe
    I'm not going to buy your stupid excuses anymore!‎
  6. (intransitive) To make a purchase or purchases, to treat (for a meal)
    She buys for Federated.‎
    Let's go out for dinner. I'm buying.‎
  7. (poker slang, transitive) To make a bluff, usually a large one.
    Smith tried to buy the pot on the river with a huge bluff‎

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

buy ‎(plural buys)

  1. Something which is bought; a purchase.
    At only $30, the second-hand kitchen table was a great buy.‎

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

References

  • buy in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
  • buy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Etymology

From Middle English byen, biggen, buggen, from Old English bycġan ‎(“to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell”), from Proto-Germanic *bugjaną ‎(“to buy”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bhūgh- ‎(“to bend”), or from Proto-Indo-European *bheugh- ‎(“to take away, deliver”). Cognate with Scots by ‎(“to buy, purchase”), obsolete Dutch beugen ‎(“to buy”), Old Saxon buggian, buggean ‎(“to buy”), Old Norse byggja ‎(“to procure a wife, lend at interest, let out”), Gothic 𐌱𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 ‎(bugjan, “to buy”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: bī, IPA(key): /baɪ/
  • Rhymes: -aɪ
  • Homophones: bi, bye, by

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