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Purchase   /pˈərtʃəs/   Listen
noun
Purchase  n.  
1.
The act of seeking, getting, or obtaining anything. (Obs.) "I'll... get meat to have thee, Or lose my life in the purchase."
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."
4.
That which is obtained, got, or acquired, in any manner, honestly or dishonestly; property; possession; acquisition. "We met with little purchase upon this coast, except two small vessels of Golconda." "A beauty-waning and distressed widow... Made prize and purchase of his lustful eye."
5.
That which is obtained for a price in money or its equivalent. "The scrip was complete evidence of his right in the purchase."
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."
7.
(Law) Acquisition of lands or tenements by other means than descent or inheritance, namely, by one's own act or agreement.
Purchase criminal, robbery. (Obs.)
Purchase money, the money paid, or contracted to be paid, for anything bought.
Worth (so many) years' purchase, 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.



verb
Purchase  v. t.  (past & past part. purchased; pres. part. purchasing)  
1.
To pursue and obtain; to acquire by seeking; to gain, obtain, or acquire. "That loves the thing he can not purchase." "Your accent is Something finer than you could purchase in so removed a dwelling." "His faults... hereditary Rather than purchased."
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."
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." "A world who would not purchase with a bruise?"
4.
To expiate by a fine or forfeit. (Obs.) "Not tears nor prayers shall purchase out abuses."
5.
(Law)
(a)
To acquire by any means except descent or inheritance.
(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.



Purchase  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."
2.
To acquire wealth or property. (Obs.) "Sure our lawyers Would not purchase half so fast."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Purchase" Quotes from Famous Books



... General Schenck's commands, the purchase of supplies, and the promotion and appointment of officers, mentioned in your letter, I will consult with the Secretary of ...
— The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Complete - Constitutional Edition • Abraham Lincoln

... repetition, madame; but a positive and solemn engagement becomes absolutely necessary. The creation of an entail requires formalities, application to the chancellor, a royal ordinance, and we ought at once to conclude the purchase of the new estate in order that the property be included in the royal ordinance by virtue of which it becomes inalienable. In many families this would be reduced to writing, but on this occasion I think a simple consent would suffice. Do ...
— The Marriage Contract • Honore de Balzac

... this—on these convictions, on these words: fix thine eyes on these examples, if thou wouldst be free, if thou hast thine heart set upon the matter according to its worth. And what marvel if thou purchase so great a thing at so great and high a price? For the sake of this that men deem liberty, some hang themselves, others cast themselves down from the rock; aye, time has been when whole cities came utterly to an end: while for the sake ...
— The Golden Sayings of Epictetus • Epictetus

... own case. You will doubtless be shocked when I tell you that I was perfectly aware of the conditions under which the aigrette is obtained before you began your exposure of the method. But did it prevent my purchase of one? Not at all. Why? Because I am a woman: I realize that no head ornament will set off my hair so well as an aigrette. Say I am cruel if you like. I wish the heron-mother didn't have to be killed or the babies starve, but, Mr. Bok, I ...
— The Americanization of Edward Bok - The Autobiography of a Dutch Boy Fifty Years After • Edward William Bok (1863-1930)

... well. Labour was the sole commodity they possessed, and it sufficed to purchase the best things of life in Canada, especially that slow upward rising in circumstances and possessions which is one of the sweetest sensations of struggling humanity, and which only a favoured few among the working classes can enjoy at home. ...
— Cedar Creek - From the Shanty to the Settlement • Elizabeth Hely Walshe


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