Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

buy

 - definition
Close

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

Close

Thesaurus

The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.

more
verb British English pronunciation: buy /baɪ/ 
Word Forms
Close
present tense
I/you/we/theybuy
he/she/itbuys
present participlebuying
past tensebought
past participlebought
 
  1. 1
    [intransitive/transitive] to get something by paying money for it

    I need to buy some new clothes.

    Now you can buy and sell shares on the Internet.

    Tickets can be bought at the door.

    A lot of people just come into the shop without buying.

    buy something from someone/something:

    I bought a ball from the toy shop.

    buy something off someone:

    I said I’d buy his bike off him.

    buy someone something:

    He’s always buying me presents.

    buy something for someone:

    Ed’s parents bought that new computer for him.

    buy something for £50/£60 etc:

    They offered to buy the car for £1,000.

    buy (something) in bulk:

    This dog food is cheaper when you buy it in bulk.

    buy something (by) mail order:

    We buy all our software by mail order.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  buyThesaurus entry for this meaning of buy
    1. a.
      [transitive] if an amount of money buys something, it is large enough to pay for that thing

      £5 million would buy you a nice house in central London.

      the best education money can buy

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  buyThesaurus entry for this meaning of buy
  2. 2

    buy

     or

    buy off

     [transitive] [usually passive] informal to give someone something so that they will do something dishonest for you

    It’s nice to know that some people can’t be bought.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  buyThesaurus entry for this meaning of buy
  3. 3
    [transitive] to get something that you want or need, usually by losing something else that is important
    buy something with something:

    attempts to buy peace with land

    buy something at the expense/cost of something:

    Increased profits would be bought at the expense of paying less attention to quality.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  buyThesaurus entry for this meaning of buy
  4. 4
    [transitive] to do something in order to get more time to do or finish something else

    That should buy us another week.

    buy time:

    These negotiations are all part of a plan to buy time to win more support.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  buyThesaurus entry for this meaning of buy
  5. 5
    [transitive] spoken to believe or accept something, especially something that is unlikely to be true or reasonable

    ‘It’s her birthday, but I told her I had to work late.’ ‘She’ll never buy that!’

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  buyThesaurus entry for this meaning of buy

phrase

This is the British English definition of buy. View American English definition of buy.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

 

vocal fry

a speech habit in which a speaker lowers their voice at the end of a sentence

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day Word of the Day

zeugma

the use of a word twice in the same sentence but with different meanings. The sentence ‘She...

Open Dictionary

conflict mineral

a mineral which is mined in a place where there is armed conflict, and sold to help pay for weapons

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog