purchasing

Meanings

1. 1noununcountablebusiness

   The activity or process of buying goods and services, especially for a company or organization.

   Grammar: No plural and no a: purchasing is handled centrally, not a purchasing.

   Patterns

   • purchasing of something
   • in charge of purchasing

   Purchasing for the hospital is handled by a central office.

   She works in purchasing for a large retailer.

   Careful purchasing helped the school cut its costs.

2. 2verbtransitiveformal

   The -ing form of purchase: buying something, usually something of some value.

   Grammar: Takes an object: purchasing a new laptop.

   Patterns

   • purchasing something from someone

   He is purchasing a house in the countryside.

   Customers purchasing two items receive a discount.

Common combinations

purchasing power

Rising prices have reduced the purchasing power of wages.

purchasing manager

The purchasing manager negotiated a better price with suppliers.

purchasing department

Send the invoice to the purchasing department.

bulk purchasing

Bulk purchasing lets the cafe buy flour at a lower rate.

online purchasing

Online purchasing has grown rapidly in recent years.

Synonyms and how they differ

buying

Buying is the everyday word for any purchase, while purchasing sounds more formal and fits business settings.

procurement

Procurement is the formal term for obtaining goods for large organizations, often via tenders, and sounds more bureaucratic than purchasing.

acquiring

Acquiring need not involve money, while purchasing always does.

Opposites

Word family

purchase verb

to buy

purchase noun

something bought, or the act of buying

purchaser noun

a person who buys

purchasable adjective

able to be bought

Commonly confused: purchasing or shopping?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “purchasing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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