buy (buys plural & 3rd person present) (buying present participle) (bought past tense & past participle )
1 verb If you buy something, you obtain it by paying money for it.
He could not afford to buy a house... V n
Lizzie bought herself a mountain bike... V pron-refl n
I'd like to buy him lunch. V n n
2 verb If you talk about the quantity or standard of goods an amount of money buys, you are referring to the price of the goods or the value of the money.
About £35,000 buys a habitable house... V n
If the pound's value is high, British investors will spend their money abroad because the pound will buy them more. V n n
3 verb If you buy something like time, freedom, or victory, you obtain it but only by offering or giving up something in return.
It was a risky operation, but might buy more time... V n
For them, affluence was bought at the price of less freedom in their work environment. V n
4 verb If you say that a person can be bought, you are criticizing the fact that they will give their help or loyalty to someone in return for money.
usu passive (disapproval)
(=bribe)
Once he shows he can be bought, they settle down to a regular payment. be V-ed
5 verb If you buy an idea or a theory, you believe and accept it.
INFORMAL I'm not buying any of that nonsense. V n
Buy into means the same as buy., phrasal verb
I bought into the popular myth that when I got the new car or the next house, I'd finally be happy. V P n
6 n-count If something is a good buy, it is of good quality and not very expensive. supp N
(=bargain) This was still a good buy even at the higher price... buy into phrasal verb If you buy into a company or an organization, you buy part of it, often in order to gain some control of it. (BUSINESS) Other companies could buy into the firm. V P n →
buy 5 buy off phrasal verb If you say that a person or organization buys off another person or group, you are criticizing the fact that they are giving them something such as money so that they will not complain or cause trouble.,
(disapproval)
...policies designed to buy off the working-class vote... V P n (not pron) In buying your children all these things, you are in a sense buying them off. V n P buy out phrasal verb If you buy someone out, you buy their share of something such as a company or piece of property that you previously owned together. The bank had to pay to buy out most of the 200 former partners... V P n (not pron) He bought his brother out for $17 million. V n P →
buyout buy up phrasal verb If you buy up land, property, or a commodity, you buy large amounts of it, or all that is available. The mention of price rises sent citizens out to their shops to buy up as much as they could... V P n (not pron) The tickets will be on sale from somewhere else because the agencies have bought them up. V n P
bring-and-buy sale (bring-and-buy sales plural )A bring-and-buy sale is an informal sale to raise money for a charity or other organization. People who come to the sale bring things to be sold and buy things that other people have brought.
(BRIT) n-count
buy-back (buy-backs plural )A buy-back is a situation in which a company buys shares back from its investors. (BUSINESS) n-count
...a share buy-back scheme..., The company announced an extensive stock buy-back program.
