PURCHASE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does purchase mean? 

• PURCHASE (noun)
  The noun PURCHASE has 4 senses:

1. the acquisition of something for payment

2. something acquired by purchase

3. a means of exerting influence or gaining advantage

4. the mechanical advantage gained by being in a position to use a lever

  Familiarity information: PURCHASE used as a noun is uncommon.

• PURCHASE (verb)
  The verb PURCHASE has 1 sense:

1. obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction

  Familiarity information: PURCHASE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PURCHASE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The acquisition of something for payment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

they closed the purchase with a handshake

Hypernyms ("purchase" is a kind of...):

acquisition (the act of contracting or assuming or acquiring possession of something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "purchase"):

buyback; redemption; repurchase (the act of purchasing back something previously sold)

buying; purchasing (the act of buying)

Derivation:

purchase (obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Something acquired by purchase

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("purchase" is a kind of...):

acquisition (something acquired)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "purchase"):

stock buyback (a corporation's purchase of its own outstanding stock; increases earnings/share so stock price rises (which can discourage a takeover attempt))

bargain; buy; steal (an advantageous purchase)

Derivation:

purchase (obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A means of exerting influence or gaining advantage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Context example:

he could get no purchase on the situation

Hypernyms ("purchase" is a kind of...):

influence (the effect of one thing (or person) on another)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The mechanical advantage gained by being in a position to use a lever

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

leverage; purchase

Hypernyms ("purchase" is a kind of...):

mechanical phenomenon (a physical phenomenon associated with the equilibrium or motion of objects)

• PURCHASE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they purchase    ... he / she / it purchases   
Past simple: purchased   
Past participle: purchased   
-ing form: purchasing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

buy; purchase

Context example:

She buys for the big department store

Hypernyms (to "purchase" is one way to...):

acquire; get (come into the possession of something concrete or abstract)

"Purchase" entails doing...:

pay (give money, usually in exchange for goods or services)

choose; pick out; select; take (pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives)

Verb group:

buy (be worth or be capable of buying)

Domain category:

commerce; commercialism; mercantilism (transactions (sales and purchases) having the objective of supplying commodities (goods and services))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "purchase"):

buy back; repurchase (buy what had previously been sold, lost, or given away)

take (buy, select)

get (purchase)

subscribe; subscribe to; take (receive or obtain regularly)

buy out; buy up; take over (take over ownership of; of corporations and companies)

pick up (buy casually or spontaneously)

buy food; take out (purchase prepared food to be eaten at home)

impulse-buy (buy on impulse without proper reflection)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Sentence example:

The children purchase the ball

Derivation:

purchase (the acquisition of something for payment)

purchase (something acquired by purchase)

purchaser (a person who buys)

purchasing (the act of buying)

 Context examples 

We went thoroughly into the business of the purchase of the estate at Purfleet.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

An individual or group that has purchased goods or services.

(Customer, NCI Thesaurus)

What were my feelings, when I recognized my own flowers; the identical Covent Garden Market purchase!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But this was quite an old set, purchased two years ago.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

She had no natural connexions to assist her even with their counsel, and she could not afford to purchase the assistance of the law.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Indicates that the device does not require a prescription to use and can be purchased over the counter (OTC).

(Over the Counter Product, Food and Drug Administration)

She brought him the anti-tobacco remedy, purchased out of her glove money, and in a few days forgot all about it.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Yet your sign will spend more than most, so you may have a big purchase planned.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

They belong to the living, I suppose; if not, you must purchase them.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

His debts are to be paid, amounting, I believe, to considerably more than a thousand pounds, another thousand in addition to her own settled upon her, and his commission purchased.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)