pay off

Formspays off, paying off, paid off

1. 1
   phrasal verbintransitive

   To turn out to be worthwhile, bringing more benefit than it cost.

   The gamble paid off when the startup was bought for twice its value.

   Better insulation should pay off within a few winters.

   Similarsucceed, work

   Oppositefail, backfire

2. 2
   phrasal verbtransitive

   To repay the entire loan on something that was financed, so that the lender's lien on it is released.

   My parents paid off the house the year I started college.

   Once you pay off the truck, the lender will mail you the title.

3. 3
   phrasal verbtransitive

   To pay back a debt, or the person to whom it is owed.

   She used her bonus to pay off two credit cards.

   He took a second job to pay off the friends who had lent him money.

   Similarrepay, settle, clear

4. 4
   noun · pay-offcountable

   A reward for something done or endured.

   The real pay-off for years of night classes was the respect of her colleagues.

   Hikers who reach the summit get a stunning view as their pay-off.

   Similarreward, dividend

5. 5
   phrasal verbcolloquialtransitive

   To bribe someone, especially so that they will look the other way instead of checking or reporting.

   The developer was accused of paying off city officials to skip the safety inspection.

   Everyone knew the club owner paid the police off every month.

   Similarbribe

   Note

   Like most phrasal verbs it splits around its object: pay off the guards or pay the guards off, but a pronoun always goes inside; paid them off, never paid off them. The words alone do not say bribe, since they also mean clearing a debt; guards, judges or inspectors who might otherwise interfere are what make the payment corrupt.

6. 6
   noun · pay-offcolloquialcountable

   A bribe: money given to influence someone dishonestly.

   Investigators traced a series of pay-offs from the contractor to two council members.

   The fight was fixed, and the referee's pay-off arrived in an envelope of cash.

   Similarbribe, backhander, sweetener, inducement, payola

7. 7
   noun · pay-offcountable

   The return that an investment brings.

   Solar panels cost a lot up front, but the pay-off comes through lower bills.

   Shareholders expect a quick pay-off from the merger.

   Similarreturn, dividend, yield

8. 8
   noun · pay-offcolloquialcountable

   A later resolution or justification of an event that has already happened, especially in a story.

   The locked drawer from the first chapter finally gets its pay-off in the last scene.

   Viewers complained that the season built up the villain's secret and then offered no pay-off.

   Similarresolution

   Oppositesetup

   Note

   Writers pair it with setup: a setup plants a hint, an object or a promise early, and the pay-off delivers on it later, which is why craft books insist that any surprising event be foreshadowed. A story that sets up much and pays off little leaves readers feeling cheated, while a pay-off with no setup feels unearned.

9. 9
   noun · pay-offuncountable

   Payment in full of what is owed, or the state of having been fully paid.

   At this rate, the mortgage will reach pay-off before she retires.

   Ask the lender for the exact pay-off amount before you sell the car.

10. 10
    phrasal verbtransitive

    To pay what is owed to an employee and discharge them from service.

    When the voyage ended, the captain paid off the crew on the dock.

    The mill paid off its seasonal hands at the end of October.

    Similardischarge, dismiss

    Note

    Payment and dismissal arrive together here: the worker receives what is owed and leaves service the same day. Ships' crews are the classic case, in Albert Lansing's Endurance (1959), a cook who came aboard drunk "was immediately paid off." The object is the person let go, not the debt, which keeps it apart from repaying what is owed.

11. 11
    noun · pay-offslangabbreviationellipsis

    Short for payoff pitch.

    Full count, two outs, and the pay-off is a fastball on the outside corner.

    The batter took the pay-off for ball four and jogged to first base.

    Note

    The pitch in question comes at a full count, three balls and two strikes, when one more ball walks the batter and a third strike sends him back to the dugout. Because it names that single pitch, the clipped form nearly always takes the (the pay-off) and, like the full phrase, it is baseball slang.

12. 12
    phrasal verbintransitive

    Of a sailing vessel or its head, to fall away to leeward.

    The helmsman let the bow pay off until the sails drew again.

    Caught head to wind, the schooner slowly paid off onto the new tack.

    Note

    At sea it describes the bow swinging away from the wind after a vessel has hung head to wind, as when tacking or getting under way. Once the head pays off the sails fill again, the boat gathers speed, and with speed comes the ability to steer.

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