pay for

pay for idiom
  1. Cover the expenses of, defray the cost of, as in I'll pay for your movie ticket, or This truck will pay for itself within a year. [Mid-1300s]
  2. Atone for, suffer for, as in He may have looked like a good manager, but his successor will end up paying for his mistakes. [Late 1600s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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