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

After the initial buy, many others are also loving the eye cream enough to repurchase thereafter. —Gabriela Izquierdo, Southern Living, 24 Nov. 2025

The tool would allow institutions to sell securities to the Fed with an agreement to repurchase them at a later time, essentially acting as a backstop for markets. —Pia Singh, CNBC, 16 Nov. 2025

Chaus repurchased the business in 2018 and bought dress platform JBS in 2020, naming Shari Levine president. —Evan Clark, Footwear News, 3 Nov. 2025

Berkshire also repurchased none of its own stock, the fifth straight quarter without buybacks, though its stock price has significantly lagged the broader market. —CNN Money, 1 Nov. 2025

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)