to buy time
23
4.1
- phrasal verb
:
ganar tiempo
- She spoke quickly to buy time while she thought of the right answer.
- help to buy time
That's a ruse to to buy time, reorganize whatever it is.
- That's a ruse to to buy time, reorganize whatever it is.
- This payment will buy time for Evergrand and avoid lawsuits for now.
- Like it was a but I had to like actually buy time.
- And a lot of the time our strategy is buying time and, you know, building a global campaign.
- and Russia continues to buy time.
- Now we're treating patients with anticoagulation because we are learning as we have bought time from flattening the curve.
- The Bank of England was clear that they were only doing this to buy time to prevent a vicious cycle for pension funds.
- China gets to test Western resolve and deplete Western resources in the in the Russia conflict while they buy time to take the Taiwan target.
- So the military then tries to buy time and they say we're going to extend the state of emergency.
- Well, the, the, the crash is ongoing, but you're buying time for GDP growth to come back, right?
Examples
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Some of these policies helped slow the pace of deforestation and buy time for the possibility of further cultural change.
Academic text (2002) -
The Bank of England was clear that they were only doing this to buy time to prevent a vicious cycle for pension funds.
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And a lot of the time our strategy is buying time and, you know, building a global campaign.
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Well, right now, we're buying time.
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Let's just sit, talk and buy time.
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So the military then tries to buy time and they say we're going to extend the state of emergency.
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I'm just buying time so they can get away!
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He's trying to buy time to rebuild his case.
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Quick fixes are sometimes appropriate because they work sufficiently well and buy time to design longer-term solutions.
Academic text (2006) -
Negotiations are often futile; dictators simply use them to buy time.
Academic text (2014)
Synonyms
562
1.4
To make something happen later than planned
166
4.3
To delay doing something on purpose to get more time
37
4.2
To wait before doing something
15
5.5
To delay something until a later time
6
4.8
To delay doing something to get more time
4
5.0
To delay on purpose to get more time before deciding or acting
2
9.3
To delay making a decision to gain time or avoid conflict
1
6.1
Delay something on purpose to have more time before a decision
1
6.7
Use extra time on purpose so the other side cannot act
Wait for a good chance before acting
Antonyms
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
buy + time
The meaning can be inferred from 'buy' (obtain/acquire) + 'time' (a span) as a metaphorical extension — i.e., to obtain more time by delaying. Because this is a figurative use of 'buy' rather than a literal purchase and many languages use different verbs (e.g., 'gain' time), it is not fully predictable for all B1 learners.
Etymology
Buy time comes from the simple image of paying money to get something extra, so imagine you could buy a little more time. So to buy time means to delay or take small actions 'to gain extra time' to prepare or decide.