to buy

Examples

• All

• There are several prerequisites nurses consider before buying into any initiative, including shared governance.

  Academic text (2015)

• Offering cocurricular opportunities for the kids who buy into the program pays dividends.

  Academic text (2013)

• Uh, do you buy that?

  Parts: The Clonus Horror (1979)

• Between me and you, I don't buy it either.

  Due Season (2022)

• No, I don't buy it.

  Hit Man (2024)

• The key is to get bullies to "buy in" to these beliefs.

  Academic text (2013)

• But some of the more sophisticated observers of the Russian scene don't buy this narrative.

  Academic text (2015)

• I don't buy it.

  Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

• You're buying this?

  Knox Goes Away (2024)

• Are you really buying that story he told you?

Synonyms

B

to believe

vsto buy

∞ 1.0

Accept that something is true or trust a person

is informal and focuses on accepting a claim or story rather than general trust

B

to buy it

vsto buy

• Informal

155 7.6

To believe a story or explanation that may be untrue

is the same but often used as a single-word informal verb

Antonyms

D

to disbelieve

15 4.7

To not accept that something is true

Idioms

B

to buy the farm

• Slang

6 9.9

To die suddenly, often in an accident or during fighting

B

to buy low, sell high

2 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 the T-shirt

• Informal

1 8.7

Have done something yourself and feel bored with it

B

to buy with your ears

1 9.5

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

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 with one's ears

• Informal

9.8

To believe what you hear without checking if it is true

Phrasal Verbs

B

to buy it

• Informal

155 7.6

To believe a story or explanation that may be untrue

B

to buy time

151 4.1

To delay something on purpose to get more time to prepare

B

to buy at

140 1.0

To shop as a customer at a particular store or seller

B

to buy back

76 3.4

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

B

to buy a ticket

76 1.0

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

B

to buy up

65 4.1

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

B

to buy out

52 3.5

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

B

to buy it

• Informal

42 9.9

To die suddenly from an accident or attack

B

to buy off

39 6.8

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

B

to buy into

• Specialized

28 4.0

Get shares or part of a company by paying money

I

to impulse-buy

5 4.4

To buy something suddenly without planning or careful thought

B

to buy wholesale

4 2.9

To buy many goods at a lower price to sell them

Compounds

B

buy-and-bust operation

• NSFW

1 7.6

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

How Persuaded

to accept

996 1.3

to buy

• Informal

546 7.1

to believe

∞ 1.0

to doubt

∞ 1.3

Surface Forms

Etymology