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.
A woman from East Sussex says she is having to take on extra work to pay for the soaring cost of her heating oil.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
He requested two coins, referring to the ancient Greek tradition of putting two coins on the eyes of the dead to pay for their transportation to the underworld.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
The state and federal governments have pledged to pay for about one-third of the construction costs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
A measure of how much companies pay for supplies topped 70% for the fourth month in a row.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026
Fifty cents would be a lot to pay for a matinee, but the Egyptian Theatre was new, a lavish movie palace, and it had an exclusive on the picture.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
