pay off definition | Dictionary.com

pay

1 [pey]

verb, paid or (Obsolete except for defs. 12, 24c ) payed; pay⋅ing; noun, adjective

–verb (used with object)

1.	to settle (a debt, obligation, etc.), as by transferring money or goods, or by doing something: Please pay your bill.

2.	to give over (a certain amount of money) in exchange for something: He paid twenty dollars for the shirt.

3.	to transfer money as compensation or recompense for work done or services rendered; to satisfy the claims of (a person, organization, etc.), as by giving money due: He paid me for my work.

4.	to defray (cost or expense).

5.	to give compensation for.

6.	to yield a recompense or return to; be profitable to: Your training will pay you well in the future.

7.	to yield as a return: The stock paid six percent last year.

8.	to requite, as for good, harm, or an offense: How can I pay her for her kindness and generosity?

9.	to give or render (attention, respects, compliments, etc.), as if due or fitting.

10.	to make (a call, visit, etc.).

11.	to suffer in retribution; undergo: You'll pay the penalty for your stubbornness!

12.	Nautical. to let (a ship) fall off to leeward.

–verb (used without object)

13.	to transfer money, goods, etc., as in making a purchase or settling a debt.

14.	to discharge a debt or obligation.

15.	to yield a return, profit, or advantage; be worthwhile: It pays to be courteous.

16.	to give compensation, as for damage or loss sustained.

17.	to suffer or be punished for something: The murderer paid with his life.

–noun

18.	the act of paying or being paid; payment.

19.	wages, salary, or a stipend.

20.	a person with reference to solvency or reputation for meeting obligations: The bank regards him as good pay.

21.	paid employment: in the pay of the enemy.

22.	reward or punishment; requital.

23.	a rock stratum from which petroleum is obtained.

–adjective

24.	requiring subscribed or monthly payment for use or service: pay television.

25.	operable or accessible on deposit of a coin or coins: a pay toilet.

26.	of or pertaining to payment.

—Verb phrases

27.

pay down,

a.	to pay (part of the total price) at the time of purchase, with the promise to pay the balance in installments: On this plan you pay only ten percent down.

b.	to pay off or back; amortize: The company's debt is being paid down rapidly.

28.	pay for, to suffer or be punished for: to pay for one's sins.

29.

pay off,

a.	to pay (someone) everything that is due that person, esp. to do so and discharge from one's employ.

b.	to pay (a debt) in full.

c.	Informal. to bribe.

d.	to retaliate upon or punish.

e.	Nautical. to fall off to leeward.

f.	to result in success or failure: The risk paid off handsomely.

30.

pay out,

a.	to distribute (money, wages, etc.); disburse.

b.	to get revenge upon for an injury; punish.

c.	to let out (a rope) by slackening.

31.

pay up,

a.	to pay fully.

b.	to pay on demand: The gangsters used threats of violence to force the shopkeepers to pay up.

—Idioms

32.

pay as you go,

a.	to pay for (goods, services, etc.) at the time of purchase, as opposed to buying on credit.

b.	to spend no more than income permits; keep out of debt.

c.	to pay income tax by regular deductions from one's salary or wages.

33.

pay back,

a.	to repay or return: to pay back a loan.

b.	to retaliate against or punish: She paid us back by refusing the invitation.

c.	to requite.

34.

pay one's or its way,

a.	to pay one's portion of shared expenses.

b.	to yield a return on one's investment sufficient to repay one's expenses: It will take time for the restaurant to begin paying its way.

Origin:
1150–1200; ME payen < OF paier < ML pācāre to satisfy, settle (a debt), L: to pacify (by force of arms). See peace

Synonyms:
1. discharge, liquidate. 3. reward, reimburse, indemnify. 19. remuneration, emolument, fee, honorarium, income, allowance. Pay, wage or wages, salary, stipend are terms for amounts of money or equivalent benefits, usually given at a regular rate or at regular intervals, in return for services. Pay is the general term: His pay went up every year. Wage usually designates the pay given at an hourly, daily, or weekly rate, often for manual or semiskilled work; wages usually means the cumulative amount paid at regular intervals for such work: an hourly wage; weekly wages. Salary designates a fixed, periodic payment for regular work or services, usually computed on a monthly or yearly basis: an annual salary paid in twelve equal monthly installments. Stipend designates a periodic payment, either as a professional salary or, more commonly, as a salary in return for special services or as a grant in support of creative or scholarly work: an annual stipend for work as a consultant; a stipend to cover living expenses.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pay¹ (pā)

v. paid (pād), pay·ing, pays

v. tr.

To give money to in return for goods or services rendered: pay the cashier.
To give (money) in exchange for goods or services: paid four dollars for a hamburger; paid an hourly wage.
To discharge or settle (a debt or obligation): paying taxes; paid the bill.
1. To give recompense for; requite: a kindness that cannot be paid back.
2. To give recompense to; reward or punish: I'll pay him back for his insults.
To bear (a cost or penalty, for example) in recompense: She paid the price for her unpopular opinions.
To yield as a return: a savings plan that paid six percent interest.
To afford an advantage to; profit: It paid us to be generous.
To give or bestow: paying compliments; paying attention.
To make (a visit or call).
Past tense and past participle paid or payed (pād) To let out (a line or cable) by slackening.

v. intr.

To give money in exchange for goods or services.
To discharge a debt or obligation.
To bear a cost or penalty in recompense: You'll pay for this mischief!
To be profitable or worthwhile: It doesn't pay to get angry.

adj.

Of, relating to, giving, or receiving payments.
Requiring payment to use or operate: a pay toilet.
Yielding valuable metal in mining: a pay streak.

The act of paying or state of being paid.
Money given in return for work done; salary; wages.
1. Recompense or reward: Your thanks are pay enough.
2. Retribution or punishment.
Paid employment: the workers in our pay.
A person considered with regard to his or her credit or reliability in discharging debts.
To pay the full amount on (a debt).
To effect profit: a bet that paid off poorly.
To get revenge for or on; requite.
To pay the wages due to (an employee) upon discharge.
Informal To bribe.
Nautical To turn or cause to turn (a vessel) to leeward.
To give (money) out; spend.
To let out (a line or rope) by slackening.

Phrasal Verb(s):
pay off

To pay the full amount on (a debt).
To effect profit: a bet that paid off poorly.
To get revenge for or on; requite.
To pay the wages due to (an employee) upon discharge.
Informal To bribe.
Nautical To turn or cause to turn (a vessel) to leeward.

pay out

To give (money) out; spend.
To let out (a line or rope) by slackening.

pay upTo give over the full monetary amount demanded.

Idiom(s):
pay (one's) duesTo 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.

Idiom(s):
pay (one's) wayTo contribute one's own share; pay for oneself.

Idiom(s):
pay the piperTo bear the consequences of something.

Idiom(s):
pay through the nose Informal To pay excessively.

[Middle English paien, from Old French paiier, from Late Latin pācāre, to appease, from Latin, to pacify, subdue, from pāx, pāc-, 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 pāx, "peace." However, it is not the peace of the one who pays that is involved in this development of meaning. From pāx, meaning "peace" and also "a settlement of hostilities," was derived the word pācāre, "to impose a settlement on peoples or territories." In Late Latin pācāre was extended in sense to mean "to appease." The Old French word paiier that developed from Latin pācāre 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.

Main Entry: pay off
Function: transitive verb
1 : to pay (a debt or credit) in full paid off>
2 : BRIBE

Language Translation for : pay off

Spanish: liquidar el sueldo, dar el finiquito, pagar y despedir,

German: auszahlen,

Japanese: 解雇する

More Translations »

pay off

Pay the full amount on a debt or on wages, as in The car's finally paid off, or Les pays off the workers every Friday evening. [Early 1700s]
Produce a profit, as in That gamble did not pay off. [Mid-1900s]
Also, pay off an old score. Get revenge on someone for some grievance, require, as in Jerry was satisfied; he'd paid off his ex-partner when he bought him out at half-price, or Amy went out with her roommate's boyfriend, but she was paying off and old score.
Bribe, as in The owner of the bar paid off the local police so he wouldn't get in trouble for serving liquor to minors. [Colloquial; c. 1900]

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