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Pay   /peɪ/   Listen
verb
Pay  v. t.  (past & past part. paid; pres. part. paying)  (Naut.) To cover, as bottom of a vessel, a seam, a spar, etc., with tar or pitch, or waterproof composition of tallow, resin, etc.; to smear.



Pay  v. t.  (past & past part. paid; pres. part. paying)  
1.
To satisfy, or content; specifically, to satisfy (another person) for service rendered, property delivered, etc.; to discharge one's obligation to; to make due return to; to compensate; to remunerate; to recompense; to requite; as, to pay workmen or servants. "May no penny ale them pay (i. e., satisfy)." "(She) pays me with disdain."
2.
Hence, figuratively: To compensate justly; to requite according to merit; to reward; to punish; to retort or retaliate upon. "For which, or pay me quickly, or I'll pay you."
3.
To discharge, as a debt, demand, or obligation, by giving or doing what is due or required; to deliver the amount or value of to the person to whom it is owing; to discharge a debt by delivering (money owed). "Pay me that thou owest." "Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all." "If they pay this tax, they starve."
4.
To discharge or fulfill, as a duy; to perform or render duty, as that which has been promised. "This day have I paid my vows."
5.
To give or offer, without an implied obligation; as, to pay attention; to pay a visit. "Not paying me a welcome."
To pay off.
(a)
To make compensation to and discharge; as, to pay off the crew of a ship.
(b)
To allow (a thread, cord, etc.) to run off; to unwind.
(c)
to bribe.
To pay one's duty, to render homage, as to a sovereign or other superior.
To pay out (Naut.), to pass out; hence, to slacken; to allow to run out; as, to pay out more cable. See under Cable.
To pay the piper, to bear the cost, expense, or trouble. (Colloq.)



Pay  v. i.  (past & past part. paid; pres. part. paying)  
1.
To give a recompense; to make payment, requital, or satisfaction; to discharge a debt. "The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again."
2.
Hence, to make or secure suitable return for expense or trouble; to be remunerative or profitable; to be worth the effort or pains required; as, it will pay to ride; it will pay to wait; politeness always pays.
To pay for.
(a)
To make amends for; to atone for; as, men often pay for their mistakes with loss of property or reputation, sometimes with life.
(b)
To give an equivalent for; to bear the expense of; to be mulcted on account of. "'T was I paid for your sleeps; I watched your wakings."
To pay off.
(a)
(Naut.) To fall to leeward, as the head of a vessel under sail.
(b)
to repay (a debt).
To pay on. To beat with vigor; to redouble blows. (Colloq.)
To pay round (Naut.) To turn the ship's head.



noun
Pay  n.  
1.
Satisfaction; content.
2.
An equivalent or return for money due, goods purchased, or services performed; salary or wages for work or service; compensation; recompense; payment; hire; as, the pay of a clerk; the pay of a soldier. "Where only merit constant pay receives." "There is neither pay nor plunder to be got."
Full pay, the whole amount of wages or salary; maximum pay; especially, the highest pay or allowance to civil or military officers of a certain rank, without deductions.
Half pay. See under Half.
Pay day, the day of settlement of accounts.
Pay dirt (Mining), earth which yields a profit to the miner. (Western U.S.)
Pay office, a place where payment is made.
Pay roll,
(a)
a roll or list of persons entitled to payment, with the amounts due; now usually one word, payroll.
(b)
the total sum of money which is paid to all employees on payday.





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"Pay" Quotes from Famous Books



... that she was under way. It was the Tsarevich, heading for the harbour, evidently in a sinking condition, and we had the satisfaction of knowing that by that night's work we had put at least one of the Russian battleships hors de combat. Her crew were much too busy to pay any attention to us; and a quarter of an hour later we were beyond the zone of that awful, merciless fire, and were heading south-east for Mokpo, where we had been ordered ...
— Under the Ensign of the Rising Sun - A Story of the Russo-Japanese War • Harry Collingwood
 
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... brought into the market by any firm with an English name; but I am sorry to be obliged to believe that many Englishmen have taken portions of that loan. Now the one great object of that loan is this, to pay in this country for vessels which are being built—Alabamas—from which it is hoped that so much irritation will arise in the minds of the people of the Northern States, that England may be dragged into war to take ...
— Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, Volume 1 • John Bright
 
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... by Eytor Gonsalves, a goldsmith of Lisbon, much other church plate, and then goes on to say that a lectern was ordered for the choir but was not made and was much needed, as was a silver monstrance, and that the monastery had no money to pay Christovam de Figueiredo for painting the great reredos of the high altar and those of the other chapels, 'and, Sir, it is necessary that they ...
— Portuguese Architecture • Walter Crum Watson
 
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... suggest—Mr. Sc—tt, you must know, (Who, we're sorry to say it, now works for the 'Row') Having quitted the Borders, to seek new renown, Is coming by long Quarto stages, to Town; And beginning with Rokeby (the job's sure to pay) Means to 'do' all the Gentlemen's Seats on the way. Now the Scheme is (though none of our hackneys can beat him) To start a fresh Poet through Highgate to 'meet' him; Who, by means of quick proofs—no ...
— The Works of Lord Byron: Letters and Journals, Volume 2. • Lord Byron
 
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... the reading of Les Chatiments at the Porte Saint Martin for the gun which I have named the "Chateaudun" amounted to 7,000 francs, the balance going to pay the attendants, firemen, and lighting, ...
— The Memoirs of Victor Hugo • Victor Hugo
 
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