pay
verbEtymology
From Middle English payen, from Old French paiier (“pay”), from Medieval Latin pācāre (“to settle, satisfy”) from Latin pācāre (“to pacify”). In this sense, displaced native Old English ġield (“pay”) and ġieldan (“to pay”), whence Modern English yield.
Definitions
To give money or other compensation to in exchange for goods or services.
- How much will the job pay?
- he paid him to clean the place up
- he paid her off the books and in kind where possible
To discharge, as a debt or other obligation, by giving or doing what is due or required.
- she offered to pay the bill
- he has paid his debt to society
- The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again.
To be profitable for.
- It didn't pay him to keep the store open any more.
›+ 13 more definitionsshow fewer
To yield as a benefit.
- to pay dividends or interest
To give (something else than money).
- to pay attention
- not paying me a welcome
To be profitable or worth the effort.
- crime doesn’t pay
- it will pay to wait
To discharge an obligation or debt.
- He was allowed to go as soon as he paid.
To suffer consequences.
- He paid for his fun in the sun with a terrible sunburn.
To admit that a joke, punchline, etc., was funny.
- Sutho took a pull at his Johnny Walker and Coke and laughed that trademark laugh of his and said: `Okay. I'll pay that all right.'
Money given in return for work
Money given in return for work; salary or wages.
- Many employers have rules designed to keep employees from comparing their pays.
A paying job
A paying job; a paying concern.
- "You can if you like. I'll drop in each day to see how she gets on." "Oh, will you? That's a relief. All the same, I wouldn't say she was a very good pay, if you spend too much time on her." "Oh, bad pays make up half a doctor's job."
Operable or accessible on deposit of coins.
- pay toilet
Pertaining to or requiring payment.
- pay television
To cover (the bottom of a vessel, a seam, a spar, etc.) with tar or pitch, or a…
To cover (the bottom of a vessel, a seam, a spar, etc.) with tar or pitch, or a waterproof composition of tallow, resin, etc.; to smear.
A diminutive of the unisex given name Payton.
A surname.
The neighborhood
- synonymante up
- synonymcough up
- synonymdefray
- synonymdo the needful
- synonymexpend
- synonymfoot the bill
- synonymfork out
- synonymfork over
- synonymimburse
- synonymlay out
- synonympay
- synonympay the freight
- antonymbuy
- antonymearn
- antonymdefault
- antonymlevant
- antonymrepudiate
- antonymsteal
- antonymwelsh
- antonymdischarge
- antonymwaive
- neighborcash on the barrelhead
- neighborplunk
- neighborgive
- neighborante
- neighborBNPL
- neighborinvest
- neighborrepay
- neighborsettle
- neighborsplurge
- neighborsquander
Derived
ability to pay, borrow from Peter to pay Paul, buy and pay for, consent or pay, crime doesn't pay, devil to pay, forepay, hell to pay, high-paying, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys, low-paying, mispay, not pay any mind, outpay, overpay, payable, pay-and-display, pay and display, pay-as-you-eat, pay-as-you-go, pay attention, pay a visit, pay back in someone's own coin, pay-by-wave, pay dearly, pay dirt, pay dividends, pay down, payee, payer, pay for, pay for itself, pay for one's whistle, pay for play, pay good money after bad, pay heed, pay homage to, pay home, pay-in slip, pay it forward · +137 more
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at pay. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at pay. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
8 hops · closes at pay
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA