DictionaryAI

pay

PAY/peɪ/

Verbpays, paying, paid

Noun pluralpays

9 meanings of pay

Practice

  1. 1
    verbtransitive or intransitive
    To give money or something else of value in exchange for goods, services, or work, or to settle a bill, debt, or other amount owed.

    Customers can pay the vendor with cash or a card.

    She paid the plumber as soon as the leak was fixed.

    UsageYou pay a person and pay for a thing: pay for the meal (not incorrect: pay the meal). You also pay a bill.

    Similarcompensate

  2. 2
    wagesnouncountable or uncountable
    Earnings received for work done, in the form of wages or a salary.

    The union negotiated higher pay for night-shift workers.

    Many teachers say their pay has not kept up with rising costs.

    UsageUsually with no a or plural: higher pay, equal pay. To compare separate amounts, salaries or wages read more naturally.

    Similarwages, salary, earnings, income

  3. 3
    give attentionverbtransitive
    To give or render something other than money, such as attention, a compliment, or a visit.

    We should pay our respects to the family this weekend.

    He paid her a compliment that made her whole day.

    UsageSet phrases: pay attention to (not incorrect: pay attention on), pay a visit, pay someone a compliment, pay your respects.

    Similargive, offer, extend

    Note

    What is handed over is something courtesy or duty asks for, treated as if it were owed. Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream has "not paying me a welcome," and Archibald Marshall's The Squire's Daughter (1909) has a couple who "paid two visits to the buffet."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • William Shakespeare wrote A Midsummer Night's Dream. gutenberg.org
    • The play contains “not paying me a welcome,” spoken by Theseus in Act V, Scene I. gutenberg.org
    • Archibald Marshall's The Squire's Daughter was first published in 1909. openlibrary.org
    • The novel describes two people who “paid two visits to the buffet”; the words belong to the narration. gutenberg.org
  4. 4
    adjective
    Requiring payment to use or access, as opposed to being free of charge, as with a service, channel, or a machine operated by inserting coins.

    The playoff games moved to a pay channel this season.

    The city converted the riverfront lot to pay parking last spring.

    Similarpaid, fee-based

    Oppositefree

  5. 5
    be punishedverbintransitive
    To suffer punishment or unpleasant consequences as a result of one's actions.

    The villain swore his enemies would pay for ruining the plan.

    She paid dearly for ignoring the storm warnings.

    Similarsuffer

    Note

    The money of the everyday verb has become pain, but the bookkeeping stays: something enjoyed, something owed.

  6. 6
    verbintransitive
    To be profitable or advantageous, or to be worth the time and effort involved, either in general or for a particular person or organization.

    Cutting corners rarely pays in the construction business.

    Being patient with difficult customers tends to pay over time.

    UsageOften it pays to + verb: it pays to ask. Usually no person follows, as in crime doesn't pay.

Less common meanings

  1. 7
    nounrarecountable
    A person or client considered as someone who pays what is owed, judged by how reliably they do it, as in a good pay or a bad pay.
    Note

    A rare noun for whoever or whatever brings the money in, and it nearly always comes with a judgment: a good pay, a bad pay. In Norman Lindsay's Dust or Polish? (1950) the pay is a patient: "I wouldn't say she was a very good pay." The reply is that "bad pays make up half a doctor's job."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Norman Lindsay wrote Dust or Polish?, published in 1950. en.wikipedia.org
    • 1950 is the book's original publication year. swinburne.edu.au
    • The book contains the quoted wording about a woman being a good pay. en.wiktionary.org
    • The exchange concerns a patient, and the next speaker replies with the quoted statement about a doctor's job. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 8
    admit it's funnyverbcolloquialAustraliaNew Zealandtransitive
    To admit that a joke, punchline, or similar quip was funny.

    When his brother joked about his haircut, he grinned and said, "Fair enough, I'll pay that."

    He groaned at first, then admitted, "Fine, I'll pay that one. It was clever."

    UsageUsually in the first person and future: I'll pay that, I'll pay that one.

    Note

    In John Byrell's Lairs, Urgers and Coat-Tuggers (1996), Sutho laughs his trademark laugh and says, "Okay. I'll pay that all right." The joke is treated as having earned its price. The listener grants it the laugh, sometimes a little grudgingly.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

  3. 9
    verb
    To cover the bottom of a vessel, a seam, or a spar with tar, pitch, or a waterproof mixture of tallow and resin; to smear.

Practice

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Origin

Latin pācāre ("to pacify") took on the meaning "to settle, satisfy" in Medieval Latin, then passed into Old French as paiier ("pay") and into Middle English as payen. In this meaning it pushed out the native Old English ġieldan ("to pay"), the ancestor of modern yield.