pay off

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 (debts) (Freq. 2)
• Syn: ↑liquidate
• Derivationally related forms: ↑liquidation (for: ↑liquidate)
• Hypernyms: ↑pay up, ↑ante up, ↑pay
• Hyponyms: ↑lift, ↑amortize, ↑amortise
• Verb Frames:
-

Somebody ——s something

3. pay off (loans or promissory notes) (Freq. 2)
• Syn: ↑redeem
• Derivationally related forms: ↑redemption (for: ↑redeem), ↑redeemer (for: ↑redeem)
• Hypernyms: ↑pay
• Verb Frames:
-

Somebody ——s something

4. do or give something to somebody in return (Freq. 1)
-

Does she pay you for the work you are doing?

• Syn: ↑pay, ↑make up, ↑compensate
• See Also: ↑pay back (for: ↑pay), ↑pay off (for: ↑pay)
• Derivationally related forms: ↑compensation (for: ↑compensate), ↑pay (for: ↑pay), ↑payee (for: ↑pay), ↑payer (for: ↑pay)
• Hypernyms: ↑settle
• Verb Frames:
-

Somebody ——s somebody PP

5. take vengeance on or get even
-

We'll get them!

-

That'll fix him good!

-

This time I got him

• Syn: ↑pay back, ↑get, ↑fix
• Derivationally related forms: ↑payback (for: ↑pay back)
• Hypernyms: ↑get even, ↑get back
• Verb Group: ↑pay
• Verb Frames:
-

Somebody ——s somebody

-

Somebody ——s somebody PP

6. pay someone with influence in order to receive a favor
• Syn: ↑buy off
• Hypernyms: ↑bribe, ↑corrupt, ↑buy, ↑grease one's palms
• Verb Frames:
-

Somebody ——s somebody

* * *

informal (of a course of action) yield good results; succeed

all the hard work I had done over the summer paid off

* * *

pay off [phrasal verb]
1 : to produce a result that you want

It's great to see that all of our hard work has finally paid off.

2 pay off (something) or pay (something) off : to give all of the money that you owe for (something that you pay for over a period of time)

It will take us 30 years to pay off our mortgage, but then the house will be ours.

If I won the money, I'd use it to pay off all my credit cards.

paying off your debts

She finally got her car paid off. [=she finally paid all the money she had borrowed to buy her car]

3 pay off (someone) or pay (someone) off
3 a : to give money to (someone) in order to make that person do something illegal or dishonest for you or to convince that person not to talk about something

He tried to pay off [=bribe] a police officer.

The company was accused of paying off its employees to keep them from talking about its illegal activities.

3 b Brit : to stop employing (someone) after paying all of the money that was owed to that person

They paid off all their workers and then closed the factory.

— see also ↑payoff
• • •
Main Entry: ↑pay

* * *

ˌpay ˈoff derived
(informal) (of a plan or an action, especially one that involves risk) to be successful and bring good results

•

The gamble paid off.

Main entry: ↑payderived

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • 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

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