purchase

1. (obsolete) The act or process of seeking and obtaining something (e.g. property, etc.)Examples: "I'll […] get meat to save thee, / Or lose my life i’ th’ purchase."countableobsoleteuncountable

2. (uncountable, also figuratively) Any mechanical hold or advantage, applied to the raising or removing of heavy bodies, as by a lever, a tackle or capstan.Examples: "It is hard to get purchase on a nail without a pry bar or hammer."; "The problem is that the model of individual responsibility assumed by most versions of ethics have little purchase on the behavior of Capital or corporations."Synonyms: contact, grip, holdalsofigurativelyuncountable

3. (climbing, uncountable) The amount of hold one has from an individual foothold or ledge.Examples: "At first, he was climbing down, testing for purchase with his feet. But soon, as the entire section of ground rotated, he was lifted into the air, and up and down flipped around."Synonyms: foothold, supportuncountable

4. (law, dated) Acquisition of lands or tenements by means other than descent or inheritance, namely, by one's own act or agreement.Examples: "The difference […]between the acquisition of an estate by descent and by purchase"countabledateduncountable