verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To buy off; ransom; redeem (from sin, hell, etc.). archaic, transitive
2. 2
   To stone for; gain over; bribe. archaic, transitive

Etymology

From Middle English *forbyen, forbiggen, forbuggen, equivalent to for- + buy.

Related phrases

buy off

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.