buyout

1 of 2

noun

buy·​out ˈbī-ˌau̇t 

1

: an act or instance of buying out

2

: a financial incentive offered to an employee in exchange for an early retirement or voluntary resignation

buy out

2 of 2

verb

bought out; buying out; buys out

transitive verb

1

: to purchase the share or interest of

2

: to purchase the entire stock-in-trade and the goodwill of (a business)

Examples of buyout in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The Braves hold a $7 million club option on Johnson for 2026 that has a modest $250,000 buyout. —David O'Brien, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2025

Norfolk Southern, the railroad company with the most famous derailment of this century near a small Ohio town, has agreed to an $85 billion buyout. —Jeremy Lott, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2025

Verb

The American billionaire also bought out the remaining independent shareholders, taking the total cost of the transaction north of £600m, of which more than £550m was borrowed from Deutsche Bank. —Dan Sheldon, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2025

Hiatt said the Illinois team requested $24 million to buy out everyone who signed up at Dogtooth Bend. —Molly Parker, ProPublica, 4 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1907, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing buyout

• leveraged buyout

Rhymes for buyout

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout
• dugout

Legal Definition

buyout

1 of 2 noun

buy·​out ˈbī-ˌau̇t 

: an act or instance of buying out

buy out

2 of 2 transitive verb

1

: to purchase the share or interest of

2

: to purchase the entire tangible and intangible assets of (a business)