pay off
Britishverb
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(tr, adverb) to pay all that is due in wages, etc, and discharge from employment
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(tr, adverb) to pay the complete amount of (a debt, bill, etc)
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(intr, adverb) to turn out to be profitable, effective, etc
the gamble paid off
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to take revenge on (a person) or for (a wrong done)
to pay someone off for an insult
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informal (tr, adverb) to give a bribe to
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(intr, adverb) nautical (of a vessel) to make leeway
noun
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the final settlement, esp in retribution
the payoff came when the gang besieged the squealer's house
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informal the climax, consequence, or outcome of events, a story, etc, esp when unexpected or improbable
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the final payment of a debt, salary, etc
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the time of such a payment
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informal a bribe
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Pay the full amount on a debt or on wages, as in The car's finally paid off , or Les pays off the workers every Friday evening . [Early 1700s]
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Produce a profit, as in That gamble did not pay off . [Mid-1900s]
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Also, pay off an old score . Get revenge on someone for some grievance, require, as in Jerry was satisfied; he'd paid off his ex-partner when he bought him out at half-price , or Amy went out with her roommate's boyfriend, but she was paying off and old score .
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Bribe, as in The owner of the bar paid off the local police so he wouldn't get in trouble for serving liquor to minors . [ Colloquial ; c. 1900]
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.
And unless voters pay attention, that plan just may pay off.
From Slate • May 4, 2026
She helped the couple secure a grant to pay off the homeowners association balance.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026
Eventually he sold his family home to pay off what he owed.
From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026
“It has been used to help our kids, pay off our house and purchase an investment property, all of which has commingled some of it.”
From MarketWatch • Apr. 30, 2026
“You don’t have to! You take four hundred dollars to Ebgard and pay off the claim. It’s yours, right and proper. Then you come back and I forgive the loan.”
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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.
