repurchase

verb

re·​pur·​chase (ˌ)rē-ˈpər-chəs 

repurchased; repurchasing

transitive verb

: to buy (something) back or again

… some enterprises moving workloads to the cloud won't have to repurchase software they already own.

—Kurt Marko

especially, of a corporation : to purchase back (shares of one's own common stock) on the open market

The company last winter repaid $405 million of debt, repurchased $202 million in common stock and predicted that sales will rise between 3 and 5 percent this year.

—Jeremiah McWilliams

repurchase noun

plural repurchases

… pointed to the trend of share repurchases, or stock buybacks, emerging among major companies … . As they buy back millions, if not billions, of their shares, their supply of stock grows tighter … and their shareholders usually benefit.

—Elizabeth Gurdus

Examples of repurchase in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

One that fills a genuine need better than the incumbent gets repurchased without a second thought. — Keren Novack, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026

The company said this would be the largest single corporate share repurchase ever. — Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 28 Sep. 2026

Before repurchasing your current foundation, read the finish descriptor on the label. — Ashley Lynch, Charlotte Observer, 28 Sep. 2026

Earlier this month, Jim called for Nvidia to authorize as much as $500 billion in buybacks, pointing to the success of Apple’s longtime strategy of aggressively and consistently repurchasing its own shares. — Alexa Lomonaco, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1533, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing repurchase

• repurchase agreement

Rhymes for repurchase

• purchase

Legal Definition

repurchase

1 of 2 transitive verb

re·​pur·​chase

ˌrē-ˈpər-chəs

repurchased; repurchasing

: to buy back

repurchase shares of stock

repurchase

2 of 2 noun

: the act or an instance of purchasing something again or back

specifically : a corporation's buying back of some of its stock at market price (as to increase the amount of Treasury stock or as a preliminary step to going private)