buy and pay for

verb

Etymology

In the sense "bribe, corrupt", the verb is much rarer than and is probably a back-formation from the adjective bought and paid for.

Definitions

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically

    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see buy, pay, for.

  2. To bribe or corrupt with money from special interests

    To bribe or corrupt with money from special interests; to obtain by bribery.

    • I presume that the lobbyists of those interests who can afford to buy and pay for special privileges, will read with a great deal of glee that this is now the order of the day.
    • The problem was, C.C. had a way of surrounding himself with people he'd bought and paid for, so I suppose you can't really blame him for being a bit confused.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for buy and pay for. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA