paid

American  

[peyd] / peɪd /

verb

1. a simple past tense and past participle of pay.

---

paid British  

/ peɪd /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of pay 1

2. to end or destroy

   breaking his leg put paid to his hopes of running in the Olympics

---

paid Idioms  

1. see under pay.

---

Other Word Forms

• nonpaid
  adjective
• self-paid
  adjective
• unpaid
  adjective
• well-paid
  adjective

Explanation

Something that's paid is done in exchange for money, or happens while you're receiving pay. For example, your job might offer paid vacation, when you get your usual pay but don't have to work. Paid work is anything you do for pay, whether it's babysitting your cousin for ten dollars, or a job at a law firm that provides a weekly paycheck. When people are described as paid, it clarifies the fact that they're working for money — like a paid FBI informant, or a paid companion for an elderly man. Paid comes from the verb pay, which meant "pacify or please" long before it came to mean "give what is due."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

paid

Meyer told The Wall Street Journal’s Celia Bernhardt that she skips the disclosures because she worries she wouldn’t get paid otherwise, though “it feels a little grimy.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

There are highly paid employees who save for years and invest in the stock market or a house, and it compounds.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

But so far, none of them have disclosed what artists will be paid, how many artists have opted in, or how much input individual musicians have over whether their work is used.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

In a social media post at the time, Mr Roller's father, Graham, paid tribute to the couple, who he described as an "amazing" mum and dad.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

“What are you paid for then? And who paid you? Why are you doing this?”

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

Related Words

• compensated
• salaried