- pay off
- verb1. yield a profit or result (Freq. 4)-
His efforts finally paid off
• Verb Frames:-Something ——s
2. eliminate by paying off (debts) (Freq. 2)• Syn: ↑liquidate• Derivationally related forms: ↑liquidation (for: ↑liquidate)• Verb Frames:-Somebody ——s something
3. pay off (loans or promissory notes) (Freq. 2)• Syn: ↑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• 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
• 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• Topics: ↑crime, ↑offense, ↑criminal offense, ↑criminal offence, ↑offence, ↑law-breaking• Hypernyms: ↑bribe, ↑corrupt, ↑buy, ↑grease one's palms• Verb Frames:-Somebody ——s somebody
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all the hard work I had done over the summer paid off
* * *
pay off [phrasal verb]1 : to produce a result that you wantIt'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 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 somethingHe 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.
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.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.