payroll
Americannoun
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a list of employees to be paid, with the amount due to each.
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the sum total of these amounts.
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the actual money on hand for distribution.
The bandits got away with the payroll.
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the total number of people employed by a business firm or organization.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a list of employees, specifying the salary or wage of each
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the total of these amounts or the actual money equivalent
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( as modifier )
a payroll tax
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Etymology
Origin of payroll
Explanation
A company's payroll is a complete list of everyone who works there and how much money they make. The small coffee shop where you work might have just four employees on its payroll. Any business or organization with a paid staff has a payroll. A school's payroll might include the principal, teachers, office workers, school nurse, and maintenance workers, for example. You can also use the term payroll for the entire amount of money that a company pays its workers over the course of a year, or for the department that calculates these salaries and hands out paychecks.
Vocabulary lists containing payroll
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for October 22–October 28, 2022
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Government and the Economy, Sections 3–5
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Century 21 Accounting, 9e, Chapters 11-14
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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.
But Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at Quilter Cheviot, said the outlook suggested a similar pattern of falling payroll number could continue "for some time".
From BBC • May 19, 2026
The team with the highest payroll in the majors — not the Dodgers, but the New York Mets — had the worst record in the majors.
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026
Another fix being proposed is a new compensation tax on employers for the provision of perks that are currently excluded from the payroll tax, such as healthcare benefits.
From Barron's • May 11, 2026
Of the remaining $4.8 trillion in spending, $1.7 trillion was paid for with payroll taxes, leaving $3.1 trillion.
From Slate • May 11, 2026
“You’re working for me now, and nobody on my payroll sleeps late.”
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
