payout

[ pey-out ]

noun
  1. an act or instance of paying, expending, or disbursing.

  2. money paid, expended, or disbursed, as a dividend or winning: He went to the betting window to collect his payout.

verb phrasepay out [pey-out] /ˈpeɪ ˈaʊt/ .
    • to distribute (money, wages, etc.); disburse.

    • to get revenge upon for an injury; requite.

    • to let out (a rope) by slackening.

Origin of payout

1
First recorded in 1900–05; noun use of verb phrase pay out

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use payout in a sentence

  • It may seem a simple matter to distribute or "pay out" the cable, but in practice it is exceedingly difficult.

  • It would take their young lady two or three years to pay out her cash and get her equivalent.

    The Tragic Muse | Henry James
  • As soon as we had fixed our stations Hall began to pay out the string, and the kite rose very swiftly.

    The Moon Metal | Garrett P. Serviss
  • I charge each hog $1 for bran and shorts; this is all the ready money I pay out for him.

    The Fat of the Land | John Williams Streeter
  • After all, the pay out here is quite as high, in comparison with the ordinary rate of earning of a peasant, as it is in England.

    The Tiger of Mysore | G. A. Henty

British Dictionary definitions for pay out

pay out

verb(adverb)
  1. to distribute (money); disburse

  2. (tr) to release (a rope) gradually, hand over hand

  1. (tr) to retaliate against

nounpayout
  1. a sum of money paid out

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with payout

payout

Distribute money, disburse, as in He paid out the full amount. [Mid-1800s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.