payroll

[pey-rohl]

noun

1. a list of employees to be paid, pay, with the amount due to each.

2. the sum total of these amounts.

3. the actual money on hand for distribution.

   The bandits got away with the payroll.

4. the total number of people employed by a business firm or organization.

verb (used with object)

1. to fund or subsidize.

   to be payrolled by the State Department.

payroll

/ ˈpeɪˌrəʊl /

noun

1. a list of employees, specifying the salary or wage of each

2. 1. the total of these amounts or the actual money equivalent

   2. ( as modifier )

      a payroll tax

Word History and Origins

Origin of payroll¹

First recorded in 1765–75; pay ¹ + roll

Example Sentences

They’ve set payroll records and bolstered their roster with a wave of star signings.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Expect him to sign with one of the teams with a high payroll.

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But the disability program is paid for, via payroll taxes, by its own trust fund, separate from the one for the retirement program.

Read more on Salon

Without their astronomical payroll, they never could have endured everything that went wrong this season.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Some companies also added to their payrolls as they moved to keep up with the surge in demand that came in the pandemic’s wake, and might now feel that they are bloated.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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• spending www.thesaurus.com
• sum