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

On the lower end, the 100ml YSL perfume refill uses 48% less glass, 59% less plastic, and 42% less paper than repurchasing two 50ml bottles. —Kara McGrath, Allure, 22 Apr. 2026

In the first quarter, ServiceNow repurchased about 20 million shares, more than double the amount purchased in all of 2025. —Lola Murti, CNBC, 22 Apr. 2026

The company bought the property in 1980, sold it in 2002 amid financial strain, and repurchased it in 2009. —Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 15 Apr. 2026

The family is due to go shopping to repurchase everything Flopsy needs. —Gina Kalsi, PEOPLE, 9 Apr. 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)