buy
//baɪ//
Forms
- present (v1)
- buy
- past (v2)
- bought
- past participle (v3)
- bought
- present participle
- buying
- 3rd person singular
- buys
- Plural
- buys
Definitions
1.To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods.
- Who'd Father buy the car for? He bought it for me, not for you.
2.To obtain, especially by some sacrifice.
- You just bought yourself an assault charge!
- I've bought material comfort by foregoing my dreams.
- Buy the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
3.To bribe.
- He tried to buy me with gifts, but I wouldn't give up my beliefs.
- After Bongino reiterated that Epstein killed himself, he was flooded with responses of disbelief. "WHO has bought the both of you?" one X user asked of Bongino and Patel, referencing the Fox News interview.
4.To be equivalent to in value.
- The dollar doesn't buy as much as it used to.
1.Something which is bought; a purchase.
- At only $30, the second-hand kitchen table was a great buy.
Frequency
Overall
Very common· #375
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Common
- General reading & writing
- Very common
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Uncommon
Related words
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”).