pay back
Britishverb
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to retaliate against
to pay someone back for an insult
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to give or do (something equivalent) in return for a favour, insult, etc
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to repay (a loan)
noun
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the return on an investment
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Also called: payback period. the time taken for a project to cover its outlay
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something done in order to gain revenge
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( as modifier )
payback killings
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Repay a debt or a loan, as in I'll pay you back next month .
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Also, pay back in someone's own coin . Revenge oneself, repay in kind, as in He thought he could get away with copying my plans, but I'll pay him back in his own coin . This expression refers to repaying a debt in exactly the same currency in which the money had been lent. [c. 1600]
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.
He also noted that if an Afterpay customer doesn’t pay back their loan, they aren’t able to take out another.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 2, 2026
And many will never earn enough to pay back the full cost of their higher education.
From BBC • May 17, 2026
He plans to pay back his customers, but the process will be difficult.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
Higher debt equates to a bigger interest burden for a government, creating a feedback loop that raises concerns about whether a nation is able to pay back both the principal and interest.
From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026
As long as she was alive, however, she needed to pay back her father.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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.
