pay for
Britishverb
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to make payment (of) for
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(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
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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]
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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.
Does this mean we can now aim ChatGPT or other chatbots at any hard math problem and expect success if we wait long enough and pay for enough tokens?
From Slate • Jun. 22, 2026
If you want her to pay for the French polishing, you have an extra incentive to reopen this line of communication — and the wound.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 22, 2026
The Sovereign Grant has risen to a record £137.9m, with a temporary increase used to pay for renovations to Buckingham Palace.
From BBC • Jun. 20, 2026
“The rest of us just have to pay for it.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 19, 2026
“Okay. You can stay home. But what will you do all morning? I can be here, but I have a ton of bills to pay for the shop.”
From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins
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.
