Pur″chase (?; 48), v. t. [imp. & p. p.Purchased (?); p. pr. & vb. n.Purchasing.] [OE. purchasen, porchacen, OF. porchacier, purchacier, to pursue, to seek eagerly, F. pourchasser; OF. pour, por, pur, for (L. pro) + chacier to pursue, to chase. See Chase.] 1. To pursue and obtain; to acquire by seeking; to gain, obtain, or acquire. Chaucer.
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.
Not tears nor prayers shall purchase out abuses. Shak.
5. (Law) (a) To acquire by any means except descent or inheritance. Blackstone. (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.