pay for
Britishverb
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to make payment (of) for
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(intr) to suffer or be punished, as for a mistake, wrong decision, etc
in his old age he paid for the laxity of his youth
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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]
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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]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s supposed to use these profits to pay for imports and other economic needs.
She is accused of using some of those funds to put a $150,000 down payment on a house in North Carolina and to pay for her wedding expenses.
From Los Angeles Times
Even more certain is the impact the conflict will have on average Americans who pay for gasoline at the pump.
From MarketWatch
But she argues: "What patients are paying for in the private sector is access to see the person they want and time for that consultation."
From BBC
“And I say, ‘No, I get much more pleasure and satisfaction out of watching people pay for them.’”
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
