Adjacent Words

Purchase definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PUR'CHASE, v.t. [This word seems to be considered by Blackstone as formed from the L. perquisitio. This is an error. The word is from the root of chase; purchaser is to pursue to the end or object, and hence to obtain. In Law Latin, purchase, the noun, was written purchacium. The legal use of the word in obtaining writs, shows best its true origin; to purchase a writ, is to sue out a writ, that is, to seek it out; for sue, seek, and L. sequor, are all of one origin, and synonymous with chase.]
1. In its primary and legal sense, to gain, obtain or acquire by any means, except by descent or hereditary right.
2. In common usage, to buy; to obtain property by paying an equivalent in money. It differs from barter only in the circumstance, that in purchasing, the price or equivalent given or secured is money; in bartering,the equivalent is given in goods. We purchase lands or goods for ready money or on credit.
3. To obtain by an expense of labor, danger or other sacrifice; as, to purchase favor with flattery.
A world who would not purchase with a bruise?
4. To expiate or recompense by a fine or forfeit; as, to purchase out abuses with tears and prayer.
5. To sue out or procure, as a writ.
PUR'CHASE, v.i. In seaman's language, to draw in ; as, the capstern purchases apace, that is, it draws in the cable apace, it gains it.
PUR'CHASE, n.
1. In law, the act of obtaining or acquiring the title to lands and tenements by money, deed, gift or any means, except by descent; the acquisition of lands and tenements by a man's own act or agreement.
2. In law, the suing out and obtaining a writ.
3. In common usage, the acquisition of the title or property of any thing by rendering an equivalent in money.
It is foolish to lay out money in the purchase of repentance.
4. That which is purchased; any thing of which the property is obtained by giving an equivalent price in money.
The scrip was complete evidence of his right in the purchase.
5. That which is obtained by labor, danger, art, etc.
A beauty waning and distressed widow
Made prize and purchase of his wanton eye--
6. Formerly, robbery, and the thing stolen.
7. Any mechanical power or force applied to the raising or removing of heavy bodies.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the acquisition of something for payment; "they closed the purchase with a handshake"
2: something acquired by purchase
3: a means of exerting influence or gaining advantage; "he could get no purchase on the situation"
4: the mechanical advantage gained by being in a position to use a lever [syn: leverage, purchase] v
1: obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction; "The family purchased a new car"; "The conglomerate acquired a new company"; "She buys for the big department store" [syn: buy, purchase] [ant: sell]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (purchased; purchasing) Etymology: Middle English purchacen, from Anglo-French purchacer to strive for, obtain, from por-, pur- thoroughly, to a conclusion (from Latin pro- forward, for) + chacer to pursue, chase — more at pro- Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. archaic gain, acquire b. to acquire (real estate) by means other than descent c. to obtain by paying money or its equivalent ; buy d. to obtain by labor, danger, or sacrifice 2. to constitute the means for buying <our dollars purchase less each year> intransitive verb to purchase something • purchasable adjective • purchaser noun II. noun Date: 14th century 1. an act or instance of purchasing 2. something obtained especially for a price in money or its equivalent 3. a. (1) a mechanical hold or advantage applied to the raising or moving of heavy bodies (2) an apparatus or device by which advantage is gained b. (1) an advantage (as a firm hold or position) used in applying one's power <clutching the steering wheel for more purchase — Barry Crump> (2) a means of exerting power

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. 1 acquire by payment; buy. 2 obtain or achieve at some cost. 3 Naut. haul up (an anchor etc.) by means of a pulley, lever, etc. --n. 1 the act or an instance of buying. 2 something bought. 3 Law the acquisition of property by one's personal action and not by inheritance. 4 a a firm hold on a thing to move it or to prevent it from slipping; leverage. b a device or tackle for moving heavy objects. 5 the annual rent or return from land. Phrases and idioms: purchase tax Brit. hist. a tax on goods bought, levied at higher rates for non-essential or luxury goods. Derivatives: purchasable adj. purchaser n. Etymology: ME f. AF purchacer, OF pourchacier seek to obtain (as PUR-, CHASE(1))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Purchase Pur"chase (?; 48), n. [OE. purchds, F. pourchas eager pursuit. See Purchase, v. t.] 1. The act of seeking, getting, or obtaining anything. [Obs.] I'll . . . get meat to have thee, Or lose my life in the purchase. --Beau. & Fl. 2. The act of seeking and acquiring property. 3. The acquisition of title to, or properly in, anything for a price; buying for money or its equivalent. It is foolish to lay out money in the purchase of repentance. --Franklin. 4. That which is obtained, got, or acquired, in any manner, honestly or dishonestly; property; possession; acquisition. --Chaucer. B. Jonson. We met with little purchase upon this coast, except two small vessels of Golconda. --De Foe. A beauty-waning and distressed widow . . . Made prize and purchase of his lustful eye. --Shak. 5. That which is obtained for a price in money or its equivalent. ``The scrip was complete evidence of his right in the purchase.'' --Wheaton. 6. Any mechanical hold, or advantage, applied to the raising or removing of heavy bodies, as by a lever, a tackle, capstan, and the like; also, the apparatus, tackle, or device by which the advantage is gained. A politician, to do great things, looks for a power -- what our workmen call a purchase. --Burke. 7. (Law) Acquisition of lands or tenements by other means than descent or inheritance, namely, by one's own act or agreement. --Blackstone. Purchase criminal, robbery. [Obs.] --Spenser. Purchase money, the money paid, or contracted to be paid, for anything bought. --Berkeley. Worth, or At, [so many] years' purchase, a phrase by which the value or cost of a thing is expressed in the length of time required for the income to amount to the purchasing price; as, he bought the estate at a twenty years' purchase. To say one's life is not worth a day's purchase in the same as saying one will not live a day, or is in imminent peril.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Purchase Pur"chase (?; 48), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Purchased; p. pr. & vb. n. Purchasing.] [OE. purchasen, porchacen, OF. porchacier, purchacier, to pursue, to seek eagerly, F. pourchasser; OF. pour, por, pur, for (L. pro) + chacier to pursue, to chase. See Chase.] 1. To pursue and obtain; to acquire by seeking; to gain, obtain, or acquire. --Chaucer. That loves the thing he can not purchase. --Spenser. Your accent is Something finer than you could purchase in so removed a dwelling. --Shak. His faults . . . hereditary Rather than purchased. --Shak. 2. To obtain by paying money or its equivalent; to buy for a price; as, to purchase land, or a house. The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth. --Gen. xxv. 10. 3. To obtain by any outlay, as of labor, danger, or sacrifice, etc.; as, to purchase favor with flattery. One poor retiring minute . . . Would purchase thee a thousand thousand friends. --Shak. A world who would not purchase with a bruise? --Milton. 4. To expiate by a fine or forfeit. [Obs.] Not tears nor prayers shall purchase out abuses. --Shak. 5. (Law) (a) To acquire by any means except descent or inheritance. --Blackstone. (b) To buy for a price. 6. To apply to (anything) a device for obtaining a mechanical advantage; to get a purchase upon, or apply a purchase to; as, to purchase a cannon.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Purchase Pur"chase, v. i. 1. To put forth effort to obtain anything; to strive; to exert one's self. [Obs.] Duke John of Brabant purchased greatly that the Earl of Flanders should have his daughter in marriage. --Ld. Berners. 2. To acquire wealth or property. [Obs.] Sure our lawyers Would not purchase half so fast. --J. Webster.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(purchases, purchasing, purchased) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. When you purchase something, you buy it. (FORMAL) He purchased a ticket and went up on the top deck... VERB: V n • purchaser (purchasers) The broker will get 5% if he finds a purchaser... = buyer N-COUNT 2. The purchase of something is the act of buying it. (FORMAL) Some of the receipts had been for the purchase of cars. N-UNCOUNT: oft N of n see also hire purchase 3. A purchase is something that you buy. (FORMAL) She opened the tie box and looked at her purchase. It was silk, with maroon stripes. N-COUNT 4. If you get a purchase on something, you manage to get a firm grip on it. (FORMAL) I got a purchase on the rope and pulled... I couldn't get any purchase with the screwdriver on the damn screws. = grip N-UNCOUNT: also a N

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

pur'-chats: In modern English, "to acquire by payment," in Elizabethan English, "to acquire" by any means. In the Old Testament, the King James Version has used "purchase" to represent qanah, and its derivatives (verb and noun), except in Le 25:33, where the word is ga'al (the Revised Version (British and American) "redeem"). In the New Testament the noun does not occur and the verb is used for ktaomai, in Ac 1:18; 8:20, and peripoieo, in Ac 20:28; 1Ti 3:13. But none of these words connotes the payment of a price, so that the Revised Version (British and American) has kept the word only in Ac 20:28 (margin "acquired"), changing it into "obtain" in Ac 1:18; 8:20, and "gain" in 1Ti 3:13. In the Old Testament, the Revised Version margin has "gotten" in Ex 15:16 and the American Standard Revised Version has (very properly) introduced the same word into the text of Ps 74:2; 78:54.

Burton Scott Easton

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Buy, bargain for, get by payment. 2. (Rare.) Obtain, acquire, procure, get, gain. II. n. 1. Bargain. 2. Property, possession, acquisition, thing acquired. 3. Hold, advantage, power, force. 4. Tackle, lever, capstan.

Moby Thesaurus

achieve, acquire, acquiring, acquisition, advantage, approach, ascendancy, attain, authority, bear hug, bite, bribe, buy, buy back, buy in, buy into, buy off, buy on credit, buy up, buying, charisma, charm, clamp, clasp, clench, clinch, cling, clinging, clout, clutch, complete a purchase, consequence, control, corner, corrupt, credit, death grip, dominance, domination, edge, effect, embrace, eminence, enchantment, engross, esteem, favor, firm hold, fix, foothold, footing, footplate, footrail, footrest, force, gain, get, get at, get to, good feeling, grapple, grasp, grease, grease the palm, grip, gripe, hold, hug, importance, incidental power, influence, influentiality, insinuation, iron grip, leadership, leverage, locus standi, magnetism, make a buy, mastery, moment, monopolize, nip, obtain, obtaining, pay for, pay off, perch, personality, persuasion, position, potency, power, predominance, preponderance, pressure, prestige, procure, procurement, purchasing, reach, realize, rebuy, regrate, reign, repurchase, repute, rule, say, secure, securing, seizure, stance, stand, standing, standing place, suasion, suborn, subtle influence, suggestion, support, supremacy, sway, tackle, take, take care of, tamper with, tickle the palm, tight grip, toehold, traction, upper hand, weight, whip hand, win