payout

American  

[pay-aut] / ˈpeɪˌaʊt /

noun

• payouts
  plural

1. an act or instance of paying, expending, or disbursing.

2. money paid, expended, or disbursed, as a dividend or winning.

   He went to the betting window to collect his payout.

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verb phrase

1. 1. to distribute (money, wages, etc.); disburse.

   2. to get revenge upon for an injury; requite.

   3. to let out (a rope) by slackening.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• payouts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of payout

First recorded in 1900–05; noun use of verb phrase pay out

Explanation

When money is handed over it's a payout. Not only does your favorite professional basketball player have a huge salary, he also gets a $50,000 payout if his team makes the quarterfinals! Payout usually refers to money paid as a prize, an investment dividend, or an insurance settlement. You'll probably get a large insurance payout after a tree falls on your house, but you'll have to wait a while. And don't expect any kind of payout from a lottery ticket — the odds of winning a jackpot are extremely low! Payout originally referred to oil wells: the cost of drilling was only worthwhile if the eventual payout would be high.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

payout payouts

According to the organization’s latest tax filings, Adelkoff was paid $1.6 million over two years, roughly half of which came from a payout of unused vacation accrued over four decades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Local leadership can authorize a bigger payout without approval from another team at headquarters.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

So long as the federal government doesn’t default, this payout rate is guaranteed.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

“This month our payout checks were half what they normally are,” says Liz Miele, the comedian who organized the coordinated posting effort, “Next month they’re going to be zero.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

Each payout is multiplied by the probability of its occurring, and these products are then summed up to give the average or expected payout.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

In the past year, about a third of New State Capital Partners’ employees have left the private-equity firm as prospects for big payouts dimmed for some of them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

NHS maternity staff who were exposed to excessive levels of nitrous oxide have received "landmark" payouts totalling £735,000, a union said.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Utilities have traditionally appealed to investors because of their dividend payouts, but those payments can look less attractive compared to bonds when interest rates rise, said Sosnick.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

The dwindling payouts have started to affect his lifestyle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Actually, you can win only by taking cards from the blue decks, which offer a nice steady diet of $50 payouts and modest penalties.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell