Pay | Mean of pay in English Dictionary

/ˈpeɪ/

• Verb
• to give money for goods or services
1. I already paid last week.
2. Where do we pay to get in?
3. Do we have to pay to park here?
4. They left the restaurant without paying.
5. Should I pay in dollars or pesos?
6. We're trying to attract more paying customers [=customers that buy things from our company] through our Web site.
7. paying passengers
8. After their children left for college, they began opening their home to paying guests. [=people who give you money to live in your house with you for a short time]
9. He offered to pay for our dinner.
10. How will you be paying for your purchase: (in) cash, (by) check, or (with a) credit card?
11. “That cheap camera I bought is broken already.” “Well, you get what you pay for.” [=a thing that can be bought for a very low price probably isn't very good]
• to give money to (someone) for goods or services
1. I'll pay the taxi driver.
2. Has anyone paid her yet?
3. We get paid on Fridays.
4. The workers get paid well. = The workers are well-paid.
5. They're going to pay a crew to paint the house.
6. You couldn't pay me to jump out of an airplane! [=I would never jump out of an airplane, even if you gave me a lot of money]
7. “Did he give you a check?” “No, he paid me in cash.”
8. When he mowed her lawn, she paid him in cookies. [=she gave him cookies for mowing her lawn]
• to give (something, such as an amount of money) for goods or services
1. I paid $200 to him yesterday. = I paid him $200 yesterday.
2. These workers are paid extremely low wages by their employers.
3. She pays 15 percent (of her earnings) to her agent.
4. I paid a lot of money for this car.
5. How much are you willing to pay?
6. They paid over $300,000 for their house.
7. They paid a high price [=a lot of money] for that painting.
8. I couldn't afford to pay cash, so I put it on my credit card.
9. We paid good money [=we gave a large amount of money] to see this show, and we want our money's worth!

• to give the money that you owe for (something)
1. I can't afford to pay my rent.
2. paying taxes/fines/penalties
3. Use the company's financing plan and pay no interest for a full year.
4. Has this bill been paid?
5. The receipt shows that their bill has been paid in full. [=all of the money they owed has been paid]
• to have a good or helpful result
1. Hard work always pays [=pays off] in the long run.
2. Crime doesn't pay. [=you get more trouble than benefit from committing a crime]
3. It pays [=it is worth the effort] to study your notes after every class.
4. When the roads are icy, it pays to drive slowly.
5. It pays to advertise.
6. It pays stores to be open on the weekends. [=stores benefit from being open on the weekends]
7. Spending a lot of money on advertising has paid dividends for our company. [=has given our company extra advantages or benefits]
8. Our efforts are finally paying dividends. [=we are finally getting the results we want from our efforts]
• to give (a percentage of money) as the profit from an investment or business
1. The investment paid eight percent last year.
2. a savings account paying four percent interest
• to deal with the bad result of something that you did
1. If you offend him, he will make you pay.
2. I'll make you pay for what you've done to me!
3. You'll pay for this!
4. She paid dearly for her mistakes. [=she suffered a lot as a result of her mistakes]
5. He thinks that the people who committed these terrible crimes should pay with their lives. [=should be killed]
• to give, lose, or suffer (something) as a punishment for or result of something else
1. We all felt that 25 years in prison was a high/small price to pay for his crimes.
2. I knew the consequences of what I was about to do, but I was willing to pay the price.
3. Famous people always pay a price for their fame.
4. She paid a heavy price for telling the truth.
5. Someone has to pay the penalty for these mistakes.
• to go somewhere to visit someone
1. She paid me a visit [=she came to visit me] while I was in the hospital. = She paid a call on me while I was in the hospital.
• to return (an amount of money) that someone allowed you to borrow
1. She has to pay back the $100 she borrowed.
2. He said that he'll pay the money back tomorrow.
3. paying back a loan
• to give (someone) the amount of money that you borrowed
1. I'll pay you back when I get the money.
2. I lent him money and he never paid me back.
3. I have to pay back my sister for that loan.
• to punish or hurt (someone who did something bad to you)
1. I wanted to pay him back [=get back at him; make him suffer] for all the pain he caused me.
2. He's finally getting paid back for all the trouble he caused.
• to do something good for (someone who did something good for you)
1. How can I pay you back for all your help?
• to put (money) in an account
1. I went to the bank to pay in a cheque.
2. paying a cheque in an account
• to put money into (a fund or account)
1. Each month she pays into an account that can be used for medical expenses.
• to produce a result that you want
1. It's great to see that all of our hard work has finally paid off.
• to give all of the money that you owe for (something that you pay for over a period of time)
1. It will take us 30 years to pay off our mortgage, but then the house will be ours.
2. If I won the money, I'd use it to pay off all my credit cards.
3. paying off your debts
4. She finally got her car paid off. [=she finally paid all the money she had borrowed to buy her car]
• to give money to (someone) in order to make that person do something illegal or dishonest for you or to convince that person not to talk about something
1. He tried to pay off [=bribe] a police officer.
2. The company was accused of paying off its employees to keep them from talking about its illegal activities.
• to stop employing (someone) after paying all of the money that was owed to that person
1. They paid off all their workers and then closed the factory.
• to give (an amount of money) to someone usually over a period of time
1. The government has paid out [=disbursed] millions of dollars in foreign aid.
2. The prize money will be paid out (to the winner) over the course of five years.
• to allow (a rope or chain) to become loose and move through your hands
1. We lowered the anchor and continued to pay out several more feet of rope.
• to pay what you owe
1. We paid up and left.
2. He decided to pay up after they threatened to take him to court for the money.
• to use your own money to pay for the things you need or do
1. She got a part-time job in order to pay her way through college.
2. Students must pay their own way if they choose to participate in the trip.
3. I wanted to buy him dinner, but he insisted on paying his own way.
• to visit or speak with someone in a polite way as a sign of respect
1. I went up to her after the meeting and paid my respects.
2. We paid our last respects at his funeral. [=we went to his funeral as a sign of respect]
• to cause (something) to end
1. The storm put paid to his attempt to sail around the world.
2. They hope to put paid to the argument once and for all.
• Noun
• money received in exchange for work
1. receiving higher/better/lower pay
2. The work is hard, but the pay is good. [=you earn a lot of money by doing the work]
3. She spent a week's pay [=the amount of money she earns in one week] in just one night.
4. He has been suspended without pay pending the results of the investigation.
5. “Women,” she said, “should receive equal pay for equal work.” [=they should be paid the same amount of money as men who perform the same job]
6. When he works on the weekends, he collects overtime pay. [=an increased rate of money earned for working more than the usual number of hours in one week]
7. The company owes her $500 in back pay. [=money that is owed to a worker from an earlier time]
8. severance pay [=money given to workers when a company ends their jobs]
9. The workers are demanding an increase in their rate of pay. = The workers are demanding an increase in their pay rate. [=the amount of money they are paid per hour, week, etc.]
10. Each pay period begins on the first of the month.
11. (US) He asked for a pay raise = (Brit) He asked for a pay rise.
12. Workers received a $4,000 pay increase.
13. I took a significant pay cut when I took this job, but I think it was worth it.
• working usually in a secret way for a person or organization
1. He was accused of being in the pay of gangsters.