Pay Definition

paid, payed, paying, pays
verb
paid, payed, paying, pays
To give due compensation; make payment.
Webster's New World
To give (what is due or owed) in return, as for goods or services.
Webster's New World
To give to (a person) what is due, as for goods received, services rendered, etc.; remunerate; recompense.
Webster's New World
To be profitable or worthwhile.
Webster's New World
To yield return or compensation as specified.
A stock that pays poorly.
Webster's New World
adjective
Of, relating to, giving, or receiving payments.
American Heritage
Rich enough in minerals, ore, etc. to make mining profitable.
Pay gravel.
Webster's New World
Operated or made available by depositing coins, submitting credit cards, etc.
A pay telephone, pay toilet.
Webster's New World
Requiring payment to use or operate.
A pay toilet.
American Heritage
Designating a service, facility, etc. paid for by subscription, fees, etc.
Pay TV.
Webster's New World
noun
A paying or being paid; payment.
Webster's New World
Money paid, esp. for work or services; wages or salary.
Webster's New World
Anything, good or bad, given or done in return.
Webster's New World
Recompense or reward.
Your thanks are pay enough.
American Heritage
Retribution or punishment.
American Heritage
Antonyms:
idiom
pay (one's) dues
  • To earn a given right or position through hard work, long-term experience, or suffering:

    She paid her dues in small-town theaters before being cast in a Broadway play.

American Heritage
pay (one's) way
  • To contribute one's own share; pay for oneself.
American Heritage
pay the piper
  • To bear the consequences of something.
American Heritage
pay through the nose
  • To pay excessively.
American Heritage
in the pay of
  • employed and paid by
Webster's New World

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Pay

Origin of Pay

  • From Middle English payen, from Old French paier, from Medieval Latin pācāre (“to settle, satisfy") from Latin pacare (“to pacify"). Displaced native Middle English yelden, yielden (“to pay") (from Old English Ä¡ieldan (“to pay")), Middle English schotten (“to pay, make payment") (from Old English scot, Ä¡escot (“payment")).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English paien from Old French paiier from Late Latin pācāre to appease from Latin to pacify, subdue from pāx pāc- peace pag- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Obsolete French peier from Old French from Latin picāre from pix pic- pitch

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Old French peier, from Latin picare (“to pitch").

    From Wiktionary

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to pay using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

pay