pay for
Britishverb
-
to make payment (of) for
-
(intr) to suffer or be punished, as for a mistake, wrong decision, etc
in his old age he paid for the laxity of his youth
-
Cover the expenses of, defray the cost of, as in I'll pay for your movie ticket , or This truck will pay for itself within a year . [Mid-1300s]
-
Atone for, suffer for, as in He may have looked like a good manager, but his successor will end up paying for his mistakes . [Late 1600s]
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.
I said something like: “Please don’t go home. Your child needs oxygen. She has pneumonia. We will figure out a way to pay for this, because we acknowledge what we do is expensive.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The “Silo” co-star on his family’s tight New York City walk-up, living near Gaslight Café and his teamster job to pay for UCLA.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The variable that will decide which power stocks survive the next two years is simple: whether tech companies or consumers pay for the AI build-out.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
It’s unclear who will pay for the development of the project.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
“Come to think of it, do we have to pay for everything we need for the impossible task? I’m only twelve,” said Valley.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
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.
