Purchase — Defs

01 v. t. To pursue and obtain; to acquire by seeking; to gain, obtain, or acquire.

imp. & p. p. Purchased; p. pr. & vb. n. Purchasing

1.
To pursue and obtain; to acquire by seeking; to gain, obtain, or acquire.
“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.
To acquire by any means except descent or inheritance.(Law)
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.

02 v. i. To put forth effort to obtain anything; to strive; to exert one's self.

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.

03 n. The act of seeking, getting, or obtaining anything.

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.
“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.
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.
Acquisition of lands or tenements by other means than descent or inheritance, namely, by one's own act or agreement.(Law)

Phrases & compounds

Purchase criminal — robbery.

Purchase money — the money paid, or contracted to be paid, for anything bought.

Worth [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.