Pay definition
Pay is a verb meaning "give money, usually in exchange for goods or services." It has 12 meanings, as a verb and a noun, listed below with example sentences.
- Part of speech
- verb, noun
- Syllables
- 1
- Letters
- 3
- How common
- Everyday word
Pay as a verb
give money, usually in exchange for goods or services
"Pay the waitress, please"
convey, as of a compliment, regards, attention, etc.; bestow
"Don't pay him any mind"
Same sense: give
cancel or discharge a debt
"pay up, please!"
Same sense: pay up, ante up
bring in
"How much does this savings certificate pay annually?"
Same sense: bear, yield
do or give something to somebody in return
"Does she pay you for the work you are doing?"
Same sense: make up, pay off, compensate
dedicate
"pay attention to"
Same sense: give, devote
be worth it
"It pays to go through the trouble"
render
"pay a visit"
bear (a cost or penalty), in recompense for some action
"You'll pay for this!"
make a compensation for
discharge or settle
"pay a debt"
Pay as a noun
something that remunerates
"he wasted his pay on drink"
Same sense: wage, salary, earnings, remuneration
Synonyms and antonyms
- give definition
- pay up
- ante up
- bear
- yield
- make up
- pay off
- compensate
- devote
- wage
- salary
- earnings
- remuneration
How to say pay
Pay has 1 syllable and rhymes with they. Syllable counts and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary.
Words that rhyme with pay
PAY in word games
- Scrabble
- 8
- Words With Friends
- 8
- Anagrams
- 2
Is PAY a valid Scrabble word? Yes, it is in the ENABLE list most word games use. Check PAY in the word checker, or unscramble PAY to see its 2 anagrams and the shorter words in its letters.
Definitions and examples from Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0). Browse more words in the dictionary.