paid
Americanverb
verb
-
the past tense and past participle of pay 1
-
to end or destroy
breaking his leg put paid to his hopes of running in the Olympics
Other Word Forms
Explanation
Something that's paid is done in exchange for money, or happens while you're receiving pay. For example, your job might offer paid vacation, when you get your usual pay but don't have to work. Paid work is anything you do for pay, whether it's babysitting your cousin for ten dollars, or a job at a law firm that provides a weekly paycheck. When people are described as paid, it clarifies the fact that they're working for money — like a paid FBI informant, or a paid companion for an elderly man. Paid comes from the verb pay, which meant "pacify or please" long before it came to mean "give what is due."
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.
Roughly 80% of the total consideration will be paid in stock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
He subsequently paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Those tobacco companies have paid over $176 billion since, according to data from the National Association of Attorneys General.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Mine is paid through vendor commissions from the flights, tours and accommodations we booked.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Now all I have to do is work up the courage to ask to be paid in advance for my remaining hours.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
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.
