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Synonyms

pay back

British  

verb

  1. to retaliate against

    to pay someone back for an insult

  2. to give or do (something equivalent) in return for a favour, insult, etc

  3. to repay (a loan)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

    1. the return on an investment

    2. Also called: payback period.  the time taken for a project to cover its outlay

    1. something done in order to gain revenge

    2. ( as modifier )

      payback killings
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
pay back Idioms  

  1. Repay a debt or a loan, as in I'll pay you back next month .

  2. 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.

Recipients would also have to pay back the loan if they left their job with the city.

From MarketWatch

"So you'll start paying back at the same income level. I think that is fair and reasonable," the chancellor added.

From BBC

She was however ordered to pay back 12.85 million won in cash and the court also ordered the confiscation of the diamond necklace.

From BBC

The commission is seeking a court order that requires Luthar to pay back his financial gains as well as a financial penalty.

From The Wall Street Journal

The trigger could be a loss of investor confidence that governments can pay back their debt, or even a rethink of the economic benefits of AI, said Maurice Obstfeld, a former IMF chief economist.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.