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Synonyms

pay through the nose

Cultural  

  1. To pay unreasonably high prices: “If you visit any major city these days, you had better be prepared to pay through the nose for a hotel room.”

pay through the nose Idioms  

  1. Pay an excessive amount for something, as in We paid through the nose for that vacation. The origin of this term has been lost. Possibly it alludes to the Danish nose tax, imposed in Ireland in the 9th century, whereby delinquent taxpayers were punished by having their noses slit. [Second half of 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.

We have one daughter and pay through the nose for private childcare.

From Slate • Sep. 15, 2023

“I had no choice but to pay through the nose for cabbages,” said 56-year-old Sung Ok-Koung, a homemaker in Seoul, for whom making kimchi is an important family activity.

From Washington Post • Sep. 23, 2022

Mr Locke's crisp business had to pay through the nose because otherwise he would have run out of crisps, which makes up more than two thirds of his sales.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2022

“I’m sitting on a station group of eight stations, and I got to pay through the nose for programming,” former journalist Gendel explains.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2021

They had to pay through the nose for Baby Wilson’s private room and private nurse.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

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.