paid

American  

[peyd] / peɪd /

verb

1. a simple past tense and past participle of pay.

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paid British  

/ peɪd /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of pay 1

2. to end or destroy

   breaking his leg put paid to his hopes of running in the Olympics

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paid Idioms  

1. see under pay.

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Other Word Forms

• nonpaid adjective
• self-paid adjective
• unpaid adjective
• well-paid adjective

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

We have seen copies of HM Revenue and Customs accounts which show the organisation paid more than £9,000 in late fees in 2025.

From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026

Brokers and agents get paid commissions for each new Medicare Advantage subscriber they sign up, and a lesser amount for renewals.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 24, 2026

Yet none of that has paid off with a win.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026

By and large, however, these costs are not paid for by truckers themselves.

From Salon • Apr. 24, 2026

I had to let all that go, together with my dreams of being paid for months of suffering and going home with a small fortune that could turn our lives around.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

Related Words

• compensated
• salaried