purchase

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To obtain in exchange for money or its equivalent; buy.
2. v. To acquire by effort; earn.
3. v. To move or hold with a mechanical device, such as a lever or wrench.
4. n. The act or an instance of buying.
5. n. Something bought.
6. n. Acquisition through the payment of money or its equivalent.
7. n. A grip applied manually or mechanically to move something or prevent it from slipping.
8. n. A device, such as a tackle or lever, used to obtain mechanical advantage.
9. n. A position, as of a lever or one's feet, affording means to move or secure a weight.
10. n. A means of increasing power or influence.
11. n. An advantage that is used in exerting one's power.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To gain, obtain, or acquire; secure, procure, or obtain in any way other than by inheritance or by payment of money or its equivalent; especially, to secure or obtain by effort, labor, risk, sacrifice, etc.: as, to purchase peace by concessions; to purchase favor with flattery.
2. To secure, procure, or obtain by expenditure of money or its equivalent; buy: as, to purchase provisions, lands, or houses.
3. To expiate or recompense by a fine or forfeit.
4. [⟨ purchase, n., 10.] To apply a purchase to; raise or move by mechanical power: as, to purchase an anchor.
5. To steal.
6. To put forth efforts to obtain anything; strive.
7. To bring something about; manage.
8. To acquire wealth.
9. Nautical, to draw in the cable: as, the capstan purchases apace.
10. n. Acquisition; the obtaining or procuring of something by effort, labor, sacrifice, work, conquest, art, etc., or by the payment of money or its equivalent; procurement; acquirement.
11. n. That which is acquired or obtained otherwise than by inheritance; gain; acquisitions; winnings; specifically, that which is obtained by the payment of money or its equivalent.
12. n. Prey; booty; plunder; hence, ill-gotten gain or wealth.
13. n. Means of acquisition or gain; occupation.
14. n. In law: The act of obtaining or acquiring an estate in lands, etc., in any manner other than by inheritance or escheat.
15. n. The acquisition of property by contract.
16. n. The acquisition of property by contract for a valuable consideration.
17. n. The suing out and obtaining of a writ.
18. n. Value; advantage; worth: as, to buy an estate at twenty years' purchase (that is, at a price equal to twenty times its annual value, or the total return from it for twenty years).
19. n. Attempt; endeavor.
20. n. Course; way; departure.
21. n. The acquisition of position, promotion, etc., by the payment of money. See purchase system, below.
22. n. Firm or advantageous hold by which power may be exerted; specifically, any mechanical power, force, or contrivance which may be advantageously used in moving, raising, or removing heavy bodies; in nautical use, a tackle of any kind for multiplying power.
23. n. A knob or raised thumb-piece, allowing the hand which holds the handle to throw back the hinged cover of a tankard, beer-mug, or similar vessel.

Wiktionary

1. n. The act or process of seeking and obtaining something (e.g. property, etc.)
2. n. An individual item one has purchased.
3. n. The acquisition of title to, or property in, anything for a price; buying for money or its equivalent.
4. n. That which is obtained, got or acquired, in any manner, honestly or dishonestly; property; possession; acquisition.
5. n. That which is obtained for a price in money or its equivalent.
6. n. uncountable Any mechanical hold or advantage, applied to the raising or removing of heavy bodies, as by a lever, a tackle or capstan.
7. n. The apparatus, tackle or device by which such mechanical advantage is gained and in nautical terminology the ratio of such a device, like a pulley, or block and tackle.
8. n. rock climbing, uncountable The amount of hold one has from an individual foothold or ledge.
9. n. law, dated Acquisition of lands or tenements by means other than descent or inheritance, namely, by one's own act or agreement.
10. v. To pursue and obtain; to acquire by seeking; to gain, obtain, or acquire.
11. v. To buy, obtain by payment of a price in money or its equivalent.
12. v. To obtain by any outlay, as of labor, danger, or sacrifice, etc.
13. v. To expiate by a fine or forfeit.
14. v. To apply to (anything) a device for obtaining a mechanical advantage; to get a purchase upon, or apply a purchase to.
15. v. To put forth effort to obtain anything; to strive; to exert one's self.
16. v. To constitute the buying power for a purchase, have a trading value.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To pursue and obtain; to acquire by seeking; to gain, obtain, or acquire.
2. v. To obtain by paying money or its equivalent; to buy for a price.
3. v. To obtain by any outlay, as of labor, danger, or sacrifice, etc..
4. v. obsolete To expiate by a fine or forfeit.
5. v. To acquire by any means except descent or inheritance.
6. v. To buy for a price.
7. v. To apply to (anything) a device for obtaining a mechanical advantage; to get a purchase upon, or apply a purchase to.
8. v. obsolete To put forth effort to obtain anything; to strive; to exert one's self.
9. v. obsolete To acquire wealth or property.
10. n. obsolete The act of seeking, getting, or obtaining anything.
11. n. The act of seeking and acquiring property.
12. n. The acquisition of title to, or properly in, anything for a price; buying for money or its equivalent.
13. n. That which is obtained, got, or acquired, in any manner, honestly or dishonestly; property; possession; acquisition.
14. n. That which is obtained for a price in money or its equivalent.
15. n. 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.
16. n. (Law) Acquisition of lands or tenements by other means than descent or inheritance, namely, by one's own act or agreement.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the acquisition of something for payment
2. n. the mechanical advantage gained by being in a position to use a lever
3. n. a means of exerting influence or gaining advantage
4. v. obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction
5. n. something acquired by purchase