to buy it
42
9.9
- phrasal verb
- /baɪ ɪt/
- Informal
Examples
-
Now if your father-in-law, like my father-in-law was dying of pancreatic cancer, I'll go buy it for him because it helps him eat and it makes him more comfortable.
-
The witness claimed he saw the accident, but she didn't buy it, thinking he was lying.
-
He always finds a way to talk himself out of trouble, but this time, no one would buy it.
-
When she heard the loud crash, she knew that someone might have buy it in a serious accident.
Synonyms
120
6.0
To die suddenly or violently, often in large numbers
87
8.4
Die suddenly, often from shock or extreme tiredness
6
9.9
To die suddenly, often in an accident or during fighting
3
9.9
To stop living and not come back
1
4.2
Die because of an accident, violence, or disaster
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
buy + it
The meaning 'to believe or accept something' is directly compositional: 'buy' in its metaphorical sense 'accept as true' plus the pronoun 'it' as the object. A B1 learner who knows the provided sense of 'buy' will therefore readily infer the MWE; only learners who know only the literal 'purchase' sense might be confused.
Etymology
Buy it may come from the simple image of buying as 'paying a price', as if someone paid the final price with their life. So, buy it came to mean 'to die'.