payroll
Americannoun
-
a list of employees to be paid, with the amount due to each.
-
the sum total of these amounts.
-
the actual money on hand for distribution.
The bandits got away with the payroll.
-
the total number of people employed by a business firm or organization.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
a list of employees, specifying the salary or wage of each
-
-
the total of these amounts or the actual money equivalent
-
( as modifier )
a payroll tax
-
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of payroll
Explanation
A company's payroll is a complete list of everyone who works there and how much money they make. The small coffee shop where you work might have just four employees on its payroll. Any business or organization with a paid staff has a payroll. A school's payroll might include the principal, teachers, office workers, school nurse, and maintenance workers, for example. You can also use the term payroll for the entire amount of money that a company pays its workers over the course of a year, or for the department that calculates these salaries and hands out paychecks.
Vocabulary lists containing payroll
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for October 22–October 28, 2022
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Government and the Economy, Sections 3–5
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Century 21 Accounting, 9e, Chapters 11-14
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
Payroll taxes would continue to come in, and the system would still be able to pay a substantial majority of scheduled benefits.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 29, 2026
Payroll employment figures dropped by 100,000 last month.
From BBC • May 19, 2026
Payroll processor Gusto, which services more than 400,000 U.S. small businesses, reported that firms added 105,700 net new jobs in February.
From Barron's • Mar. 3, 2026
On the upside, several expenses typically reduce in retirement: Payroll taxes disappear and work-related costs — commuting, daily lunches, buying office suits etc. — also diminish.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 23, 2026
Payroll gains in November were slightly better than the 45,000 forecast by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal, but they had expected a lower unemployment rate of 4.5%.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 16, 2025
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.
