Meaning & use
laybuy
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountableAustralianbusiness
A way of buying something by paying small amounts regularly until the full price is paid, after which you receive the goods.
Grammar: Countable when you mean one arrangement ('a laybuy'); uncountable when you mean the system in general ('buy it on laybuy').
Patterns
- buy something on laybuy
- put something on laybuy
- a laybuy plan
The shop offers laybuy, so you can pay a little each week and collect the item when it is fully paid for.
She put the washing machine on laybuy because she could not afford the whole price at once.
Under the store's laybuy plan, you pay a deposit and then weekly amounts for twelve weeks.
verbtransitiveAustralianbusinessinformal
To buy something by paying in regular small amounts until the full price is paid.
Grammar: Takes an object: laybuy a couch. It is most common in Australian and New Zealand English.
Patterns
- laybuy something
- laybuy something for someone
They decided to laybuy the new laptop rather than pay for it all at once.
He laybought a bike for his son and paid it off over three months.
Many customers laybuy Christmas presents in the middle of the year.
Word forms
| plural | laybuys |
|---|---|
| third person singular | laybuys |
| past tense | laybought |
| past participle | laybought |
| -ing form | laybuying |
Common combinations
- on laybuy
- I bought the sofa on laybuy and paid it off in ten weeks.
- laybuy plan
- The store's laybuy plan lets you spread the cost over several months.
- offer laybuy
- Only a few shops in the city still offer laybuy.
- put something on laybuy
- She put the ring on laybuy so she could give it to him at Christmas.
- laybuy terms
- Read the laybuy terms carefully, because some shops charge a fee if you miss a payment.
Synonyms and how they differ
- layaway
- The American and British term for the same arrangement; use layaway in the US, but laybuy in Australia and New Zealand.
- installment plan
- A more general term for paying in regular parts; it can also mean you take the goods home immediately, which is not true of laybuy.
- hire purchase
- Similar, but with hire purchase you usually get the item straight away and pay interest, while with laybuy you collect it only after the last payment.
Opposites
Word family
- laybuyer noun
- A person who buys goods on laybuy.
Commonly confused: laybuy or layby?
laybuy vs layby
A layby is a small area beside a road where drivers can stop; laybuy is about paying for goods in parts. The spellings are very close, so check the context.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'laybuy' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'On laybuy' is the usual phrase for paying for goods in regular amounts before collecting them. Option A confuses laybuy with 'layby', a roadside stopping area; option C wrongly uses the verb with money as the object; option D uses the noun for the construction of a building, which is not its meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “laybuy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.