Meanings
present singular third person buys time · participle present buying time · participle past bought time · past bought time
- idiomaticTo purposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else.
We need you to buy us some time, so distract the security guard for a few minutes.
1 more example
Parliament, dominated by supporters of the government, voted on Thursday to delay making a decision on whether it will amend the constitution. The decision angered protesters and opposition parliamentarians, who accused parliament of trying to buy time.
2020 September 25, Reuters Staff, “Thai republican hashtag trends after constitution change delayed”, in Reuters, Reuters, retrieved 25 Sep 2020Synonyms: gain time, play for time
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo purposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 爭取時間 /争取时间
- 爭取時間 /争取时间 (zhēngqǔ shíjiān)purposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
Dutch tijd winnen, tijd rekken
- tijd winnenpurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
- tijd rekkenpurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
Finnish pelata aikaa, viivytellä
- pelata aikaapurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
- viivytelläpurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
French gagner du temps, jouer la montre
- gagner du tempspurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
- jouer la montrepurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
- temporiserpurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
German Zeit gewinnen
- Zeit gewinnenpurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
Hungarian húzza az időt
- húzza az időtpurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
Italian guadagnare tempo
- guadagnare tempopurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
Japanese 時間を稼ぐ, 時を稼ぐ
- 時間を稼ぐ (jikan o kasegu)purposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
- 時を稼ぐ (toki wo kasegu)purposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
Polish grać na zwłokę
- grać na zwłokępurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
Portuguese ganhar tempo
- ganhar tempopurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
Romanian cumpăra timp
- cumpăra timppurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
Russian вы́играть вре́мя
- вы́играть вре́мя (výigratʹ vrémja)purposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
Spanish ganar tiempo
- ganar tiempopurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
Thai ซื้อเวลา
- ซื้อเวลา (sʉ́ʉ-wee-laa)purposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
Turkish vakit kazanmak, zaman kazanmak
- vakit kazanmakpurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
- zaman kazanmakpurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
- oyalamakpurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
Vietnamese câu giờ
- câu giờpurposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else
Cite this entry
buy time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buy%20time
“buy time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buy%20time. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “buy time,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buy%20time.
Source: buy time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.