installment buying
- noun
- US
:
compra a plazos
- By utilizing installment buying, she was able to acquire the latest smartphone without a large upfront payment.
Examples
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He chose installment buying for his new furniture to manage his budget more easily.
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Installment Buying (Twelfth-Grade Economics Class)
Academic text (2004) -
After the role-playing, the teacher discussed the positive side of installment buying and then the negative side, listing the advantages and disadvantages on the board.
Academic text (2004) -
Many consumers prefer installment buying because it allows them to spread the cost of expensive items over several months.
Synonyms
4
3.2
A way to pay by making small payments over time
1
8.8
To pay for something by small regular payments over time instead of paying all at once
A way to buy something by paying small amounts regularly
A loan you repay in equal regular payments with interest that people often use to buy a car or furniture
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'installment' (a scheduled partial payment) with 'buying' (the act of purchasing): it literally describes buying paid for in installments. This noun-noun composition is common cross-linguistically (e.g. compra a plazos) and follows standard English compounding patterns, so a learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Installment buying comes from the idea of paying for something in small parts over time. Here, installment means a 'small payment' and buying means 'getting something', so the phrase means 'to buy now and pay later in regular parts'.