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Pay   /peɪ/   Listen
verb
Pay  v. t.  (past & past part. paid; pres. part. paying)  (Naut.) To cover, as bottom of a vessel, a seam, a spar, etc., with tar or pitch, or waterproof composition of tallow, resin, etc.; to smear.



Pay  v. t.  (past & past part. paid; pres. part. paying)  
1.
To satisfy, or content; specifically, to satisfy (another person) for service rendered, property delivered, etc.; to discharge one's obligation to; to make due return to; to compensate; to remunerate; to recompense; to requite; as, to pay workmen or servants. "May no penny ale them pay (i. e., satisfy)." "(She) pays me with disdain."
2.
Hence, figuratively: To compensate justly; to requite according to merit; to reward; to punish; to retort or retaliate upon. "For which, or pay me quickly, or I'll pay you."
3.
To discharge, as a debt, demand, or obligation, by giving or doing what is due or required; to deliver the amount or value of to the person to whom it is owing; to discharge a debt by delivering (money owed). "Pay me that thou owest." "Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all." "If they pay this tax, they starve."
4.
To discharge or fulfill, as a duy; to perform or render duty, as that which has been promised. "This day have I paid my vows."
5.
To give or offer, without an implied obligation; as, to pay attention; to pay a visit. "Not paying me a welcome."
To pay off.
(a)
To make compensation to and discharge; as, to pay off the crew of a ship.
(b)
To allow (a thread, cord, etc.) to run off; to unwind.
(c)
to bribe.
To pay one's duty, to render homage, as to a sovereign or other superior.
To pay out (Naut.), to pass out; hence, to slacken; to allow to run out; as, to pay out more cable. See under Cable.
To pay the piper, to bear the cost, expense, or trouble. (Colloq.)



Pay  v. i.  (past & past part. paid; pres. part. paying)  
1.
To give a recompense; to make payment, requital, or satisfaction; to discharge a debt. "The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again."
2.
Hence, to make or secure suitable return for expense or trouble; to be remunerative or profitable; to be worth the effort or pains required; as, it will pay to ride; it will pay to wait; politeness always pays.
To pay for.
(a)
To make amends for; to atone for; as, men often pay for their mistakes with loss of property or reputation, sometimes with life.
(b)
To give an equivalent for; to bear the expense of; to be mulcted on account of. "'T was I paid for your sleeps; I watched your wakings."
To pay off.
(a)
(Naut.) To fall to leeward, as the head of a vessel under sail.
(b)
to repay (a debt).
To pay on. To beat with vigor; to redouble blows. (Colloq.)
To pay round (Naut.) To turn the ship's head.



noun
Pay  n.  
1.
Satisfaction; content.
2.
An equivalent or return for money due, goods purchased, or services performed; salary or wages for work or service; compensation; recompense; payment; hire; as, the pay of a clerk; the pay of a soldier. "Where only merit constant pay receives." "There is neither pay nor plunder to be got."
Full pay, the whole amount of wages or salary; maximum pay; especially, the highest pay or allowance to civil or military officers of a certain rank, without deductions.
Half pay. See under Half.
Pay day, the day of settlement of accounts.
Pay dirt (Mining), earth which yields a profit to the miner. (Western U.S.)
Pay office, a place where payment is made.
Pay roll,
(a)
a roll or list of persons entitled to payment, with the amounts due; now usually one word, payroll.
(b)
the total sum of money which is paid to all employees on payday.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Pay" Quotes from Famous Books



... struggling for the mastery in a war of tints,—how should we choose between them? Alas! we were not able to choose: they were a thousand dollars apiece! But the Persians still went on unfolding, taking our admiration in pay for their trouble, and seeming even, by their pleasant smiles, to consider themselves well paid. When we came to the booths of European merchants, we were swiftly impressed with the fact that civilization, in following the sun westward, loses its grace in proportion ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 87, January, 1865 • Various

... sake of the enormous wealth he drew officially from perquisites out of the different forms of expenditure upon the army. The Tories gathered strength, and in the beginning of 1712 a commission on a charge of taking money from contractors for bread, and 2 1/2 per cent, from the pay of foreign troops, having reported against him, Marlborough was dismissed from all his employments. Sarah, his duchess, had also been ousted from the Queens favour, and they quitted England for a time, Marlborough writing, Provided that my destiny does not involve ...
— The Spectator, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 - With Translations and Index for the Series • Joseph Addison and Richard Steele

... miles to the right of Alderworth, ma'am, where the meads begin. I have thought that if Mr. Yeobright would like to pay me a visit sometimes he shouldn't stay away for want of asking. I'll not bide to tea this afternoon, thank'ee, for I've got something on hand that must be settled. 'Tis Maypole-day tomorrow, and the Shadwater folk have ...
— The Return of the Native • Thomas Hardy

... these advertised prices, the young trapper often experiences great difficulty in a profitable disposal of his furs. Like every other business, the fur trade runs in its regular grooves, and the average furrier will often pay an experienced professional five dollars for a skin for which he would not offer a dollar to an amateur. This certainly seems discouraging, but the knowledge of the fact is calculated to ...
— Camp Life in the Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap Making • William Hamilton Gibson

... you talk folkses talk, they'll have you in de graveyard or in Chattahoochee one. You can't pay no 'tention ...
— The Mule-Bone: - A Comedy of Negro Life in Three Acts • Zora Hurston and Langston Hughes


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