prepay
Americanverb (used with object)
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prepays,
present (3rd person singular)
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prepaid,
past participle, past
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prepaying
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
prepaysimple
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prepayssimple
-
have prepaidperfect
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has prepaidperfect
-
am prepayingprogressive
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are prepayingprogressive
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is prepayingprogressive
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have been prepayingperfect progressive
-
has been prepayingperfect progressive
Past
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prepaidsimple
-
had prepaidperfect
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was prepayingprogressive
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were prepayingprogressive
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had been prepayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of prepay
Explanation
When you cover the cost of something before you actually have it, you prepay. You'll have to prepay now for that new refrigerator — even though they won't deliver it for two months! You have to prepay for most things you purchase online or over the phone; your credit card is charged long before you can actually wear those new shoes or eat that takeout Thai food. Another way to prepay is to settle a bill early, before payment is due: "I'm going to prepay my rent through August." Pre- means "before," so whenever you pay beforehand, you prepay.
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.
See Examples For:
Back in recessionary 2009, sales plunged as fewer people were willing to prepay for years of vacations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
If you think there would be funds left after she dies, then you can do things like prepay for her funeral and give gifts to family members.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 26, 2026
The agreement, unveiled earlier this month, allows Meta to prepay for nuclear energy that will power its data centers in the region.
From Barron's ● Jan. 21, 2026
It may not make sense to prepay a 3% mortgage when you can earn 5% on a certificate of deposit, for example.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2024
All these provisions were amended or developed in later laws, like that of 1885 forbidding persons or corporations to prepay the transportation of laborers or to encourage immigration under contract to perform work.
From The United States Since the Civil War by Lingley, Charles Ramsdell
“It’s a new story for them, and it is very simple to understand: Producing assets, no debt, no royalties, no prepays, no hedges, executing well, optionality, strong balance sheet,” Bond said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
Peter Holt prepays $66 for two checked bags on his Avianca flight from San Jose, Costa Rica, to Mexico City.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 17, 2023
In its latest promotion, AT&T is offering up to two Roku Premiere boxes for any new DirecTV Now, AT&T Unlimited Choice, or Unlimited Plus customer that prepays for two months of service.
From The Verge ● Jun. 15, 2017
Is he at Ronda?' and prepays the reply.
From Miranda of the Balcony A Story by Mason, A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodle)
He said Blake used a prepaid phone card to call McLarty but was careless enough to do it from his home landline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
The company reports remaining performance obligations of $638 billion, up $85 billion from the previous quarter with much of the increase coming from customers with prepaid or presupplied GPUs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
Financial products have been increasingly adding gamelike features that create competition or instant gratification to keep users hooked — and the latest example is a prepaid debit card with a “buy-now-pay-maybe” feature.
From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026
The student, whose name was not disclosed in federal data, used prepaid Dollar General gift cards and then went broke and turned to family for help.
From Salon ● May 2, 2026
If the outstanding balance is prepaid in full, the unearned finance charge will be refunded.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Or would you be better off paying down your credit-card balance, prepaying your mortgage or doing some of each?
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
"For prepaying customers, when the money on the meter runs out and there's no means of topping up, so does the energy," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2023
Budget-conscious attendees who are less concerned about being downtown likely booked their rooms during the early bird sale, which usually involves prepaying for the stay in full.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2023
Some $3.6 billion of PDVSA's pending payments may be unrecoverable, Reuters reporting showed, because they are tied to tankers that left the country without prepaying at least a portion of the cargoes' value.
From Reuters ● Mar. 24, 2023
Among other disadvantages, that prepaying tendency of yours may lose me a letter one day.
From The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Volume II by Kenyon, Frederic G. (Frederic George), Sir
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.
