to buy

Examples

• All

• Or has liberty in the West been bought at too high a price of dignity for women?

  Academic text (1999)

• Haven't you tried to buy my loyalty with only money?

  The Maltese Falcon (1941)

• "There is no way we can be bought off by money or any other condition.

  Fiction book (1990)

• So yeah, I mean, did you say that they bought off judges in Mexico?

  Danny Jones

• So you really think you can buy my silence, just by threatening my career?

  The Month of August (2002)

• They'll say we bought the verdict.

  Gable and Lombard (1976)

• Rather, they see JI as an effort by the rich to buy their way out of substantive commitments.

  Academic text (1994)

• Participants are merely collaborationists, lackeys of the government who are bought off by government prestige and money.

  Academic text (1990)

• Are you telling me you're bribing Phil Hymore not to report us tothe FTC by buying him an addition to his house?

  People Like Us (2012)

• It's unethical to buy influence by offering money for favors.

Synonyms

B

to bribe

vsto buy

140 4.1

Give money or gifts to a person in authority to make them do something dishonest

has identical meaning but is a more general spoken verb

C

to corrupt

vsto buy

125 4.5

To make someone act dishonestly, often by giving them money

is limited to illegal payment for favors rather than broader moral decay

P

to pay off

vsto buy

24 5.0

Give someone money to influence them in a dishonest way

focuses on illegal payment for influence rather than lawful transactions

B

to buy off

vsto buy

16 6.8

Give money or gifts to someone so they stay quiet and do something wrong

describes illegal payment for favors rather than protection only

G

to grease one's palms

vsto buy

• Informal

1 8.5

To give someone money secretly to make them do something for you

is the general term for illegal payment to gain influence

Idioms

B

to buy the farm

• Slang

5 9.9

To die suddenly, often in an accident or during fighting

B

to buy low, sell high

1 3.9

To buy something when its price is low and sell it later to make money

B

to buy a pig in a poke

• Informal

1 9.9

To buy something without checking it first and risk being cheated

B

to buy a dog and bark

• Archaic

9.9

To do a task yourself and take responsibility for what happens

B

to buy straw hat in winter

• Informal

9.9

To make a poor choice at the wrong time

B

to buy the T-shirt

• Informal

8.7

Have done something yourself and feel bored with it

B

to buy with one's ears

• Informal

9.8

To believe what you hear without checking if it is true

B

to buy with your ears

9.5

Choose something only because of how it sounds, for example speakers or headphones

Phrasal Verbs

B

to buy it

• Informal

140 7.6

To believe a story or explanation that may be untrue

B

to buy it

• Informal

57 9.9

To die suddenly from an accident or attack

B

to buy out

49 3.5

Pay money to own a company or a partner's share to gain control

B

to buy up

46 4.1

To pay for and take almost all of something so one group controls it

B

to buy into

• Specialized

42 4.0

Get shares or part of a company by paying money

B

to buy a ticket

32 1.0

To pay money for permission to travel or go to an event

B

to buy at

24 1.0

To shop as a customer at a particular store or seller

B

to buy time

23 4.1

To delay something on purpose to get more time to prepare

B

to buy back

22 3.4

To pay money to get something you once sold, lost, or gave away

B

to buy off

16 6.8

Give money or gifts to someone so they stay quiet and do something wrong

B

to buy wholesale

2 2.9

To buy many goods at a lower price to sell them

I

to impulse-buy

1 4.4

To buy something suddenly without planning or careful thought

Compounds

B

buy-and-bust operation

• NSFW

7.6

A police action in which officers pretend to buy illegal drugs to arrest sellers

Surface Forms

Etymology