pay off

pay off
phrasal verb
Word forms "pay off":
present tense I/you/we/they pay off he/she/it pays off present participle paying off past tense paid off past participle paid off
1) [intransitive] if something that you do pays off, it brings you some benefit

All those weeks of studying will pay off when you take the exam.

2) [transitive] to give someone all the money that you have borrowed from them to buy something

Only another six months and the house will be paid off.

3) [transitive] to stop employing a worker and give them any money that they are owed

Over 1,000 workers will be paid off if this factory closes.

4)
a) [transitive] to give someone money so that they will do something bad or dishonest for you

There were suspicions that officials had been paid off.

b) to give someone money so that they will not do something that will cause you problems, especially by telling people about something bad that you have done

They threatened to tell reporters about him unless he paid them off.


English dictionary. 2014.

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  • pay off — {v. phr.} 1. To pay the wages of. * /The men were paid off just before quitting time, the last day before the holiday./ 2. To pay and discharge from a job. * /When the building was completed he paid off the laborers./ 3. To hurt (someone) who has …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • pay off — {v. phr.} 1. To pay the wages of. * /The men were paid off just before quitting time, the last day before the holiday./ 2. To pay and discharge from a job. * /When the building was completed he paid off the laborers./ 3. To hurt (someone) who has …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • pay off — vt 1: to pay (a debt or credit) in full the loan was paid off 2: bribe Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996 …   Law dictionary

  • pay off — (something) to pay all of a debt. It took her six years to pay off her student loan. I guess I can afford a new car, but it s a lot of money and it s not easy to pay it off …   New idioms dictionary

  • pay-off — s.m.inv. ES ingl. 1. TS pubbl. frase finale di un annuncio o di un comunicato pubblicitario che riassume ed evidenzia il messaggio di vendita del prodotto 2. TS econ. risultato economico di un operazione 3. TS sport obiettivo che si intende… …   Dizionario italiano

  • pay off — ► pay off 1) dismiss with a final payment. 2) informal yield good results. Main Entry: ↑pay …   English terms dictionary

  • pay|off — «PAY F, OF», noun, adjective. –n. 1. the act of paying wages. 2. the time of such payment. 3. a) the returns, as from an enterprise or specific action; result: »You will see the payoff immediately…without need for specially trained operators… …   Useful english dictionary

  • pay off — (someone) to give someone money illegally to get them to do what you want. The pair had paid off local police to protect their drug selling operation …   New idioms dictionary

  • pay-off — index commission (fee) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • pay-off — ► NOUN informal 1) a payment, especially a bribe. 2) the return on investment or on a bet. 3) a final outcome …   English terms dictionary

  • pay off — verb 1. yield a profit or result (Freq. 4) His efforts finally paid off • Hypernyms: ↑yield, ↑pay, ↑bear • Verb Frames: Something s 2. eliminate by paying off ( …   Useful english dictionary

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