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Synonyms

pay down

British  

verb

  1. (adverb) to pay (a sum of money) at the time of purchase as the first of a series of instalments

"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

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.

If you’re struggling to pay down debt, it may help to set a stricter budget.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 11, 2026

Put simply, gold had become wildly popular over the past year, so when the war started it was the obvious thing to sell, either for caution or to pay down debt.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026

Paramount relies heavily on cable channel profits to pay down debt and said Monday there were no plans to sell any cable channels.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 2, 2026

They cut costs aggressively, run out the revenue stream, and use every dollar of incoming cash to pay down the loan before the terminal decline arrives.

From Barron's • Feb. 24, 2026

“Man, if I had five dollars, I could pay down on a suit. Five dollars is almost half a week’s wages for me.”

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

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.