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buy-in

American  
[bahy-in] / ˈbaɪˌɪn /

noun

  1. an act or instance of buying in.

  2. the deliberate submission of a false bid, too low to be met, in order to win a contract.

  3. Poker. the chips purchased by a player from the banker, occasionally a set amount required to enter a specific competition or game.


buy in British  

verb

  1. (tr) to buy back for the owner (an item in an auction) at or below the reserve price

  2. (intr) to purchase shares in a company

  3. (intr) to buy goods or securities on the open market against a defaulting seller, charging this seller with any market differences

  4. Also: buy intoinformal (tr) to pay money to secure a position or place for (someone, esp oneself) in some organization, esp a business or club

  5. to purchase (goods, etc) in large quantities

    to buy in for the winter

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the purchase of a company by a manager or group who does not work for that company

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of buy-in

Noun use of verb phrase buy in

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.

At a time of tremendous upheaval for the tech world, the retail world and Target itself, Vemana said that making sure he still has buy-in from his team is another priority.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026

These investors’ average Bitcoin buy-in price was around $83,000, according to a recent post on X by James Seyffart, a research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence—suggesting an average loss of about 18%, based on Thursday’s price.

From Barron's • Feb. 5, 2026

But getting parent buy-in has taken a lot of work - with many used to tracking their children or having family chat groups to keep in touch.

From BBC • Jan. 30, 2026

While advocates like Sobel support such regulations, they also warn that to be effective, they need buy-in from members of law enforcement.

From Salon • Jan. 29, 2026

“But you need buy-in from everyone in the group. Give it some more thought. How can you help the shelter? How can each of you get something out of the experience?”

From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty