buy
Contents
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
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”).
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
buy (third-person singular simple present buys, present participle buying, simple past bought, past participle bought or (rare, dialectal) boughten)
- (transitive) To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods
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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.
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- (transitive) To obtain by some sacrifice.
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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.
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- (transitive) To bribe.
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He tried to buy me with gifts, but I wouldn't give up my beliefs.
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- (transitive) To be equivalent to in value.
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The dollar doesn't buy as much as it used to.
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- (transitive, informal) to accept as true; to believe
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I'm not going to buy your stupid excuses anymore!
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- (intransitive) To make a purchase or purchases, to treat (for a meal)
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She buys for Federated.
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Let's go out for dinner. I'm buying.
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- (poker slang, transitive) To make a bluff, usually a large one.
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Smith tried to buy the pot on the river with a huge bluff
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Alternative formsEdit
- buie (archaic)
SynonymsEdit
- (obtain (something) in exchange for money): cheap (obsolete), purchase
- (accept as true): accept, believe, swallow (informal), take on
- ((intransitive) make a purchase): make a buy
AntonymsEdit
- (obtain (something) in exchange for money): cheap (obsolete), sell, vend
- (accept as true): disbelieve, reject, pitch
Derived termsEdit
Terms derived from buy (verb)
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
to obtain something with money
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to accept as true
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
NounEdit
buy (plural buys)
- Something which is bought; a purchase.
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At only $30, the second-hand kitchen table was a great buy.
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AntonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
purchase — see purchase
ReferencesEdit
- buy in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- buy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913