buy it
Idioms-
Suffer a severe reversal, as in If they can't raise the money in time, they'll buy it . [ Slang ; mid-1900s]
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Be killed; die. For example, By the time we could get to the hospital, he had bought it . Originating during World War I as military slang, this term later was extended to peacetime forms of death. A later slang equivalent is buy the farm , dating from about 1950. For example, He'll soon buy the farm riding that motorcycle . According to J.E. Lighter, it alludes to training flights crashing in a farmer's field, causing the farmer to sue the government for damages sufficient to pay off the farm's mortgage. Since the pilot usually died in such a crash, he in effect bought the farm with his life.
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Believe it; see buy something .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"I just thought that it was really exciting. The dress is obviously not cursed, I'm happily married, as is the bride I bought it from," she joked.
From BBC
First, the rock legend listed his expansive Henderson, Nevada, property—along with an adjacent lot—just a few months after buying it, initially asking $13.5 million.
From MarketWatch
How funny that we dug up all that gold, but we could never afford to buy it back.
From Literature
In reality, though, it’s the options premium they really like, and they tend to get cranky if the stock declines and they must buy it.
From Barron's
“It’s not forced on you, because then it’s fake, man. If it’s coerced, I don’t buy it.”
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
