# buy

Pronunciation: say "BY" /baɪ/

## Verb

1. To get something by paying money for it, including paying for something such as a drink or meal for someone else.
   - Simple: To get something by paying money for it, for yourself or for someone else.
   - _They buy most of their vegetables from local farmers._
   - _He bought a used car for far less than he expected._
2. To accept something as true; to believe it. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To believe that something is true.
   - _The investors didn't buy the company's rosy forecast for next year._
   - _She bought the explanation without asking a single question._
5. To be exchangeable for a given amount of goods; to have a certain purchasing power.
   - Simple: To be worth a certain amount when you spend it.
   - _Today a dollar won't buy what it did a decade ago._
   - _Back then, a nickel bought a hot cup of coffee._
6. To gain someone's cooperation or silence by paying them improperly.
   - Simple: To pay someone secretly so they will do what you want.
   - _You can't buy every witness in a trial this public._
   - _The cartel had bought several local officials over the years._
7. To obtain something, especially at the cost of a significant sacrifice.
   - Simple: To get something by giving up something important.
   - _Only real sacrifice can buy that kind of lasting peace._
   - _Their resistance bought the city precious time to prepare its defenses._
8. In poker, to win a pot by bluffing, usually with a large bet that makes opponents fold better hands. *(slang)*
   - Simple: In poker, to win the money on the table by betting big so others give up, even with a weak hand.
   - _Good players occasionally buy a pot they have no business winning._
   - _He bought the pot with a massive all-in bluff._

## Noun

3. An item that someone has acquired through purchase.
   - Simple: A thing that someone has paid for.
   - _The vintage record collection proved to be an excellent buy._
   - _Given its condition and location, the house was a remarkable buy._
4. A rating in which an analyst tells investors to acquire a given stock or other investment.
   - Simple: A rating from a market expert telling people to purchase a certain stock or other investment.
   - _Three analysts upgraded the chipmaker to a buy after its earnings report._
   - _The bank kept its buy on the shares, pointing to strong cash flow._

## Verb

9. To suffer the consequences of something by being deprived of something; to pay for one's actions. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To pay for a wrong by losing something.

## Origin

The source is bycġan, an Old English verb meaning "to buy, pay for, acquire," which became Middle English byen. It goes back to Proto-Germanic *bugjaną, and nothing certain is known beyond that. The u in the spelling is from southwestern English, and the "by" sound is from the East Midlands.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/buy (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).