pay off

pay ¹  (p)

v. paid (pd), pay·ing, pays

v.tr.

1. To give money to in return for goods or services rendered: pay the cashier.

2. To give (money) in exchange for goods or services: paid four dollars for a hamburger; paid an hourly wage.

3. To discharge or settle (a debt or obligation): paying taxes; paid the bill.

4.

a. To give recompense for; requite: a kindness that cannot be paid back.

b. To give recompense to; reward or punish: I'll pay him back for his insults.

5. To bear (a cost or penalty, for example) in recompense: She paid the price for her unpopular opinions.

6. To yield as a return: a savings plan that paid six percent interest.

7. To afford an advantage to; profit: It paid us to be generous.

8. To give or bestow: paying compliments; paying attention.

9. To make (a visit or call).

10. Past tense and past participle paid or payed (pd) To let out (a line or cable) by slackening.

v.intr.

1. To give money in exchange for goods or services.

2. To discharge a debt or obligation.

3. To bear a cost or penalty in recompense: You'll pay for this mischief!

4. To be profitable or worthwhile: It doesn't pay to get angry.

adj.

1. Of, relating to, giving, or receiving payments.

2. Requiring payment to use or operate: a pay toilet.

3. Yielding valuable metal in mining: a pay streak.

n.

1. The act of paying or state of being paid.

2. Money given in return for work done; salary; wages.

3.

a. Recompense or reward: Your thanks are pay enough.

b. Retribution or punishment.

4. Paid employment: the workers in our pay.

5. A person considered with regard to his or her credit or reliability in discharging debts.

Phrasal Verbs:

pay off

1. To pay the full amount on (a debt).

2. To effect profit: a bet that paid off poorly.

3. To get revenge for or on; requite.

4. To pay the wages due to (an employee) upon discharge.

5. Informal To bribe.

6. Nautical To turn or cause to turn (a vessel) to leeward.

pay out

1. To give (money) out; spend.

2. To let out (a line or rope) by slackening.

pay up

To give over the full monetary amount demanded.

Idioms:

pay (one's) dues

To earn a given right or position through hard work, long-term experience, or suffering: She paid her dues in small-town theaters before being cast in a Broadway play.

pay (one's) way

To contribute one's own share; pay for oneself.

pay the piper

To bear the consequences of something.

pay through the nose Informal

To pay excessively.

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[Middle English paien, from Old French paiier, from Late Latin pcre, to appease, from Latin, to pacify, subdue, from px, pc-, peace; see pag- in Indo-European roots.]

Word History: Given the unpeaceful feelings one often has in paying bills or income taxes, it is difficult to believe that the word pay ultimately derives from the Latin word px, "peace." However, it is not the peace of the one who pays that is involved in this development of meaning. From px, meaning "peace" and also "a settlement of hostilities," was derived the word pcre, "to impose a settlement on peoples or territories." In Late Latin pcre was extended in sense to mean "to appease." The Old French word paiier that developed from Latin pcre came to have the specific application "to pacify or satisfy a creditor," a sense that came into Middle English along with the word paien (first recorded around the beginning of the 13th century), the ancestor of our word pay.

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pay ²  (p)

tr.v. payed or paid (pd), pay·ing, pays

To coat or cover (seams of a ship, for example) with waterproof material such as tar or asphalt.

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[Obsolete French peier, from Old French, from Latin picre, from pix, pic-, pitch.]

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pay off

Verb

1. to pay the complete amount of (a debt)

2. to pay (someone) all that is due in wages and dismiss him or her from employment

3. to turn out successfully: her persistence finally paid off

4. Informal to give a bribe to

Noun

payoff

1. Informal the climax or outcome of events

2. Informal a bribe

3. the final payment of a debt

4. the final settlement, esp. in retribution: the payoff came when the gang besieged the squealer's house

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	pay off - yield a profit or result; "His efforts finally paid off" pay, bear, yield - bring in; "interest-bearing accounts"; "How much does this savings certificate pay annually?"
	2.	pay off - eliminate by paying off (debts) liquidate ante up, pay up, pay - cancel or discharge a debt; "pay up, please!" lift - pay off (a mortgage) amortise, amortize - liquidate gradually
	3.	pay off - pay off (loans or promissory notes) redeem pay - give money, usually in exchange for goods or services; "I paid four dollars for this sandwich"; "Pay the waitress, please"
	4.	pay off - do or give something to somebody in return; "Does she pay you for the work you are doing?" make up, pay, compensate settle - dispose of; make a financial settlement
	5.	pay off - pay someone with influence in order to receive a favor buy off crime, criminal offence, criminal offense, law-breaking, offense, offence - (criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act; "a long record of crimes" bribe, grease one's palms, buy, corrupt - make illegal payments to in exchange for favors or influence; "This judge can be bought"
	6.	pay off - take vengeance on or get even; "We'll get them!"; "That'll fix him good!"; "This time I got him" pay back, fix, get get back, get even - take revenge or even out a score; "I cannot accept the defeat--I want to get even" pay - make a compensation for; "a favor that cannot be paid back"