PAY • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Pay

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Pay

verb

(past & past part. paid; pres. part. paying)

1.

Give money, usually in exchange for goods or services. "Pay the waitress, please"

2.

Convey, as of a compliment, regards, attention, etc.; bestow. Synonym: give. "Give the orders" , "Give him my best regards" , "Pay attention"

3.

Cancel or discharge a debt. Synonyms: ante up, pay up.

4.

Bring in. Synonyms: bear, yield. "How much does this savings certificate pay annually?"

5.

Do or give something to somebody in return. Synonyms: compensate, make up, pay off.

6.

Dedicate. Synonyms: devote, give. "Give priority to" , "Pay attention to"

7.

Be worth it.

8.

Render. "Pay a call"

9.

Bear (a cost or penalty), in recompense for some action. "She had to pay the penalty for speaking out rashly" , "You'll pay for this opinion later"

10.

Make a compensation for.

11.

Discharge or settle. "Pay an obligation"

noun

1.

Something that remunerates. Synonyms: earnings, remuneration, salary, wage. "He wasted his pay on drink" , "They saved a quarter of all their earnings"

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Etymology of 'Pay'

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pay as you earn

regular payment

WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University

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"Pay" Quotes from Famous Books

... approval Senate bill No. 139, entitled "An act to credit and pay to the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia all moneys collected under the direct tax levied by the act of Congress approved ...

— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 3 (of 3) of Volume 8: Grover Cleveland, First Term. • Grover Cleveland

... spent some of the rather large pay she drew upon coverings of French blue for the plush furniture, upon a dainty yellow porcelain tea-set, upon little oddments of decoration. The wall-paper and carpet were inoffensive, the quietest probably in Millings, so that her efforts had ...

— Hidden Creek • Katharine Newlin Burt

... first I must speak to you about a poor woman with whom I have accidentally been talking, who has begged me to intercede with you to pay a little debt that she thinks you have forgotten, but that probably ...

— Cecilia Volume 1 • Frances Burney

... Odin. Now, therefore, the king sent an edict addressed to Eutharic and Bishop Peter, ordaining that a pecuniary contribution should be levied on all the Christian citizens of Ravenna, out of which the synagogues should be rebuilt, and that those who were not able to pay their share of this contribution should be flogged through the streets, the crier going behind them and in a loud voice proclaiming their offence. The order was doubtless obeyed, but from that day there was a secret spirit of rebellion in the hearts of ...

— Theodoric the Goth - Barbarian Champion of Civilisation • Thomas Hodgkin

... Street, Philadelphia." He described himself as a printer by trade, and said that he had come over when he was a younger man, in the hope of bettering himself, and for the sake of seeing the Old Country, but had never since been rich enough to pay his homeward passage. His manner and accent did not quite convince me that he was an American, and I told him so; but he steadfastly affirmed, "Sir, I was born and have lived in Ninety-second Street, Philadelphia," and then went on to describe some public ...

— Our Old Home - A Series of English Sketches • Nathaniel Hawthorne

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