buyback

noun

buy·​back ˈbī-ˌbak 

: the act or an instance of buying something back

In Boston and other cities, gun buyback programs dramatically call attention to the profusion of firearms among the young …

—Diane Weathers

Talks of a potential buyback come as Volkswagen and federal regulators discuss ways to bring the more than half-million affected Volkswagen cars in the US up to current emissions standards.

—Bryan Logan

especially : the repurchase by a corporation of shares of its own common stock usually on the open market

Most corporate buybacks involve a repurchase by a company of part of its outstanding common stock at a fixed price, which is normally sufficiently higher than the market price to attract the desired number of shares.

—Leonard Sloane

This stock buyback boom, while obscure to much of the public, has become one of the most pervasive and divisive practices in corporate America.

—Michael Kranish

Examples of buyback in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Any update on resuming stock buybacks will be notable, too. — Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 21 June 2026

The net payout yield measures the company’s capital return to shareholders by combining the dividend yield with the net share buyback yield. — Bill Stone, Forbes.com, 21 June 2026

The disappearance of buybacks and the issuance of new equity represent the latest shift in the way technology giants operate as a result of heavy spending to add AI computing capacity. — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 18 June 2026

Your raise, in the zero-rate era, went to a buyback. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 17 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1954, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for buyback

• aback
• attack
• backpack
• backtrack
• bareback
• blackjack
• brownback
• callback
• cognac
• comeback
• cutback
• dieback

Legal Definition

buyback

noun

buy·​back ˈbī-ˌbak 

: an act or instance of buying something back

especially : the repurchase by a corporation of shares of its own common stock on the open market