Definition of pay

"pay" in the noun sense

1. wage, pay, earnings, remuneration, salary

something that remunerates

"wages were paid by check"

"he wasted his pay on drink"

"they saved a quarter of all their earnings"

"pay" in the verb sense

1. pay

give money, usually in exchange for goods or services

"I paid four dollars for this sandwich"

"Pay the waitress, please"

2. give, pay

convey, as of a compliment, regards, attention, etc. bestow

"Don't pay him any mind"

"give the orders"

"Give him my best regards"

"pay attention"

3. pay up, ante up, pay

cancel or discharge a debt

"pay up, please!"

4. yield, pay, bear

bring in

"interest-bearing accounts"

"How much does this savings certificate pay annually?"

5. pay, pay off, make up, compensate

do or give something to somebody in return

"Does she pay you for the work you are doing?"

6. give, pay, devote

dedicate

"give thought to"

"give priority to"

"pay attention to"

7. pay

be worth it

"It pays to go through the trouble"

8. pay

render

"pay a visit"

"pay a call"

9. pay

bear (a cost or penalty), in recompense for some action

"You'll pay for this!"

"She had to pay the penalty for speaking out rashly"

"You'll pay for this opinion later"

10. pay

make a compensation for

"a favor that cannot be paid back"

11. pay

discharge or settle

"pay a debt"

"pay an obligation"

Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)

Princeton University "About WordNet®."
WordNet®. Princeton University. 2010.


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Quotations for pay

No pay no Swiss. [ Proverb ]

He that cannot pay,
Let him pray. [ Proverb ]

Words pay no debts. [ William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida ]

Rob Peter to pay Paul. [ Proverb ]

Live upon trust,
And pay double you must. [ Proverb ]

As sure as Exchequer pay. [ Proverb ]

One must pay with his life. [ French Proverb ]

Take all and pay the baker. [ Proverb ]

To pay one in one's own coin. [ Proverb ]

It is hard to pay and pray too. [ Proverb ]

Grandeur has a heavy tax to pay. [ Alex. Smith ]

Thou whom avenging powers obey.
Cancel my debt (too great to pay)
Before the sad accounting day. [ Wentworth Dillon ]

Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. [ Cicero ]

Love that asketh love again
Finds the barter naught but pain;
Love that giveth in full store
Aye receives as much, and more.
Love exacting nothing back
Never knoweth any lack;
Love compelling Love to pay,
Sees him bankrupt every day. [ Dinah Muloch Craik ]

He that will be surety shall pay. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

Old thanks pay not for a new debt. [ Proverb ]

Birds pay equal honours to all men. [ Proverb ]

Words pay no debts, give her deeds. [ William Shakespeare ]

Pay what you owe,
And what you are worth you will know. [ Proverb ]

Posterity will pay every one his due. [ Tac ]

Every one must pay his debt to Nature. [ German Proverb ]

The best use of money is to pay debts. [ Proverb ]

Trust dies because bad pay poisons him. [ Proverb ]

There's a proud modesty in merit!
Averse from asking, and resolved to pay
Ten times the gifts it asks. [ Dryden ]

When to soft Sleep we give ourselves away,
And in a dream as in a fairy bark
Drift on and on through the enchanted dark
To purple daybreak - little thought we pay
To that sweet bitter world we know by day. [ T. B. Aldrich ]

Living upon trust is the way to pay double. [ Proverb ]

All wish to know, but no one to pay the fee. [ Juv ]

We pay when old for the excesses of our youth. [ Proverb ]

It is hard to suffer wrong and pay for it too. [ Proverb ]

A pound of care will not pay an ounce of debt. [ Proverb ]

The man who builds, and wants wherewith to pay,
Provides a home from which to run away. [ Young ]

He that cannot pay in purse must pay in person. [ Proverb ]

Great men will always pay deference to greater. [ Landor ]

No class escapes them - from the poor man's pay
The nostrum takes no trifling part away;
Time, too, with cash is wasted; 'tis the fate
Of real helpers, to be called too late;
This find the sick, when time and patience gone
Death with a tenfold terror hurries on. [ Crabbe ]

One outward civility is current pay for another. [ Proverb ]

All would like to know, but few to pay the price. [ Juv ]

They shall have wars and pay for their presumption. [ William Shakespeare ]

Speak not of my debts, unless you mean to pay them. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

God does not pay every week, but He pays at the end. [ Dutch Proverb ]

A hundred load of thought will not pay one of debts. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

Wisdom is a good purchase, though we pay dear for it. [ Proverb ]

One can never pay too high a price for any sensation. [ Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey ]

Compliments cost nothing, yet many pay dear for them. [ Proverb ]

Cent, per cent, do we pay for every vicious pleasure. [ Proverb ]

He has but a short Lent that must pay money at Easter. [ Proverb ]

If you pay for every lie, you will soon be a bankrupt. [ Proverb ]

The Alphabet Of Success

Attend carefully to details.
Be prompt in all things.
Consider well, then decide positively.
Dare to do right, fear to do wrong.
Endure trials patiently.
Fight life's battles bravely.
Go not into the society of the vicious.
Hold your integrity sacred.
Injure not another's reputation.
Join hands only with the virtuous.
Keep your mind free from evil thoughts.
Lie not for any consideration.
Make few special acquaintances.
Never try to appear what you are not.
Observe good manners.
Pay your debts promptly.
Question not the verity of a friend.
Respect the desires of your parents.
Sacrifice money rather than principle.
Touch not, taste not, handle not intoxicating drinks.
Use your leisure for improvement.
Venture not upon the threshold of wrong.
Watch carefully over your passions.
Xtend to everyone a kindly greeting.
Yield not to discouragement.
Zealously labor for the right, and success is certain. [ Ladies Home Journal ]

I will not suffer you to pay for this in another world. [ Proverb ]

If you pay not a servant his wages, he will pay himself. [ Proverb ]

Thanks are justly due for things we have not to pay for. [ Ovid ]

In courtesy, rather pay a penny too much than too little. [ Proverb ]

Pride wishes not to owe, and self-love does not wish to pay. [ La Roche ]

The husband who is not loved will pay for it dearly, some day. [ Proverb ]

You may pay for your schooling more than your learning is worth. [ Proverb ]

He who buys what he cannot pay for, sells what he fain would not. [ Italian Proverb ]

Persecution is a tribute the great must ever pay for pre-eminence. [ Goldsmith ]

Sampson was a strong man, yet could not pay money before he had it. [ Proverb ]

Within this wall of flesh There is a soul counts thee her creditor.
And with advantage means to pay thy love. [ William Shakespeare ]

The joys of meeting pay the pangs of absence, Else who could bear it? [ Rowe ]

Friends, I owe more tears to this dead man than you shall see me pay. [ Shakespeare ]

Oaths are the counterfeit money with which we pay the sacrifice of love. [ Ninon de Leuclos ]

And as neither would allow the other to pay for him, neither paid at all. [ Heine ]

Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit! [ Hosea Ballou ]

A thing is worth what it can do for you, not what you choose to pay for it. [ John Ruskin ]

Nothing not a reality ever yet got men to pay bed and board to it for long. [ Carlyle ]

If you oblige those that can never pay you, you make providence your debtor. [ Proverb ]

Faith keeps many doubts in her pay. If I could not doubt, I should not believe. [ Thoreau ]

Some are unwisely liberal; and more delight to give presents than to pay debts. [ Sir P. Sidney ]

It is better to pay and have but little left, than to have much and be always in debt. [ Proverb ]

All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price. [ Juvenal ]

They that do an act that does deserve requital pay first themselves the stock of such content. [ Sir Robert Howard ]

A friend that you have to buy won't be worth what you pay for him, no matter what that may be. [ George D. Prentice ]

Think not your estate your own, while any man can call upon you for money which you cannot pay. [ Johnson ]

I have discovered the philosopher's stone that turns everything into gold; it is, Pay as you go. [ Randolph ]

To know the true opinions of men, one ought to pay more respect to their actions than their words. [ Descartes ]

They that hold the greatest farms pay the least rent (applied to rich men that are unthankful to God). [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

No pay is receivable by any true man; but power is receivable by him in the love and faith you give him. [ John Ruskin ]

Rank exists in the moral world also. Commoner natures pay with what they do: nobler, with what they are. [ Johann C. F. Von Schiller ]

We cannot expect the deepest friendship unless we are willing to pay the price, a self-sacrificing love. [ Peloubet ]

Can there be any greater folly than the respect you pay to men collectively when you despise them individually? [ Cicero ]

Wit, like money, bears an extra value when rung down immediately it is wanted. Men pay severely who require credit. [ Douglas Jerrold ]

A single seed of fact will produce in a season or two a harvest of calumnies: but sensible men will pay no attention to them. [ Froude ]

We are all of us so hard-up nowadays that the only pleasant things to pay are compliments. They're the only things we can pay. [ Oscar Wilde, Lady Windemere's Fan ]

The fool is willing to pay for anything but wisdom. No man buys that of which he supposes himself to have an abundance already. [ Simms ]

Few parents nowadays pay any regard to what their children say to them. The old-fashioned respect for the young is fast dying out. [ Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest ]

Part with it as with money, sparing; pay no moment but in purchase of its worth: and what its worth ask death-beds; they can tell. [ Young ]

Great minds do indeed react on the society which has made them what they are; but they only pay with interest what they have received. [ Macaulay ]

We must strive to make ourselves really worthy of some employment. We need pay no attention to anything else; the rest is the business of others. [ Bruyere ]

It is most dangerous nowadays for a husband to pay any attention to his wife in public. It always makes people think that he beats her when they are alone. [ Oscar Wilde, Lady Windemere's Fan ]

When a woman finds out that her husband is absolutely indifferent to her she either becomes dreadfully dowdy or wears very smart bonnets that some other woman's husband has to pay for. [ Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey ]

Gross and vulgar minds will always pay a higher respect to wealth than to talent; for wealth, although it be a far less efficient source of power than talent, happens to be far more intelligible. [ Colton ]

The painter who is content with the praise of the world in respect to what does not satisfy himself is not an artist, but an artisan; for though his reward be only praise, his pay is that of a mechanic. [ Washington Allston ]

There are three kinds of praise, - that which we yield, that which we lend, and that which we pay. We yield it to the powerful from fear, we lend it to the weak from interest, and we pay it to the deserving from gratitude. [ Colton ]

As to pay, sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress that as no pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to accept this arduous employment at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit from it. [ George Washington ]

Let us not envy some men their accumulated riches; their burden would be too heavy for us; we could not sacrifice, as they do, health, quiet, honor, and conscience, to obtain them: it is to pay so dear for them that the bargain is a loss. [ Bruyere ]

People travel the world over to visit untouched places of natural beauty, yet modern gardens pay little heed to the simplicity and beauty of these environments... those special places we all must preserve and protect, each in his own way, before they are lost forever. [ Mary Reynolds, 2002 Gold Medal Winner of the Chelsea Flower Show, November 2001 Application Form. Dare to Be Wild movie ]

Blessings we enjoy daily; and for most of them, because they be so common, most men forget to pay their praises; but let not us, because it is a sacrifice so pleasing to Him that made the sun and us, and still protects us, and gives us flowers and showers and meat and content. [ Izaak Walton ]

No man of honor, as the word is usually understood, did ever pretend that his honor obliged him to be chaste or temperate, to pay his creditors, to be useful to his country, to do good to mankind, to endeavor to be wise or learned, to regard his word, his promise, or his oath. [ Swift ]

A gentleman's taste in dress is, upon principle, the avoidance of all things extravagant. It consists in the quiet simplicity of exquisite neatness; but, as the neatness must be a neatness in fashion, employ the best tailor; pay him ready money, and, on the whole, you will find him the cheapest. [ Bulwer-Lytton ]

We may put too high a premium on speech from platform and pulpit; at the bar and in the legislative hall, and pay dear for the whistle of our endless harangues. England, and especially Germany, are less loquacious, and attend more to business. We let the eagle, and perhaps too often the peacock, scream. [ Bartol ]

If you love music, hear it; go to operas, concerts, and pay fiddlers to play to you. But I insist upon your neither piping nor fiddling yourself; it puts a gentleman in a very frivolous, contemptible light; brings him into a great deal of bad company, and takes up a great deal of time which might be much better employed. [ Chesterfield ]

There are so many things to lower a man's top-sails - he is such a dependent creature - he is to pay such court to his stomach, his food, his sleep, his exercise - that, in truth, a hero is an idle word. Man seems formed to be a hero in suffering, not a hero in action. Men err in nothing more than in the estimate which they make of human labor. [ Cecil ]

Superstition is the fear of a spirit whose passions and acts are those of a man, who is present in some places, and not in others; who makes some places holy, and not others; who is kind to one person, and unkind to another; who is pleased or angry according to the degree of attention you pay him, or praise you refuse him; who is hostile generally to human pleasure, but may be bribed by sacrificing a part of that pleasure into permitting the rest. [ John Ruskin ]

Wisdom is a fox who, after long hunting, will at last cost you the pains to dig out; it is a cheese, which, by how much the richer, has the thicker, the homlier, and the coarser coat; and whereof to a judicious palate, the maggots are best. It is a sack posset, wherein the deeper you go, you'll find it the sweeter. Wisdom is a hen, whose cackling we must value and consider, because it is attended with an egg. But lastly, it is a nut, which, unless you choose with judgment, may cost you a tooth, and pay you with nothing but a worm. [ Swift ]

Threescore years and ten! It is the Scriptural statute of limitations. After that, you owe no active duties; for you the strenuous life is over. You are a time-expired man, to use Kipling's military phrase: You have served your term, well or less well, and you are mustered out. You are become an honorary member of the republic, you are emancipated, compulsions are not for you, nor any bugle-tail but lights out. You pay the time-worn duty bills if you choose, or decline if you prefer - and without prejudice - for they are not legally collectable. [ Mark Twain, Seventieth Birthday speech ]

Today it is all of sixty years since I began to smoke the limit. I have never bought cigars with life-belts around them. I early found that those were too expensive for me: I have always bought cheap cigars - reasonably cheap, at any rate. Sixty years ago they cost me four dollars a barrel, but my taste has improved, latterly, and I pay seven, now. Six or seven. Seven, I think. Yes; it's seven. But that includes the barrel. I often have smoking-parties at my house; but the people that come have always just taken the pledge. I wonder why that is? [ Mark Twain, Seventieth Birthday speech ]

pay in Scrabble®

The word pay is playable in Scrabble®, no blanks required.

Scrabble® Letter Score: 8

Highest Scoring Scrabble® Plays In The Letters pay:

YAP
(24)
PAY
(24)
PAY
(24)
YAP
(24)
YAP
(24)
PAY
(24)
 

All Scrabble® Plays For The Word pay

PAY
(24)
PAY
(24)
PAY
(24)
PAY
(16)
PAY
(16)
PAY
(16)
PAY
(16)
PAY
(15)
PAY
(14)
PAY
(12)
PAY
(11)
PAY
(10)
PAY
(9)
PAY
(8)

The 55 Highest Scoring Scrabble® Plays For Words Using The Letters In pay

YAP
(24)
PAY
(24)
PAY
(24)
YAP
(24)
YAP
(24)
PAY
(24)
PAY
(16)
PAY
(16)
YAP
(16)
YAP
(16)
PAY
(16)
YAP
(16)
YAP
(16)
PAY
(16)
YA
(15)
PAY
(15)
YA
(15)
AY
(15)
YAP
(15)
AY
(15)
PAY
(14)
YAP
(14)
YA
(13)
AY
(13)
PA
(12)
PAY
(12)
PA
(12)
YAP
(12)
YAP
(11)
PAY
(11)
PA
(10)
YA
(10)
AY
(10)
AY
(10)
YAP
(10)
YA
(10)
PAY
(10)
YAP
(9)
AY
(9)
YA
(9)
PAY
(9)
PAY
(8)
PA
(8)
YAP
(8)
PA
(8)
PA
(7)
YA
(7)
AY
(7)
PA
(6)
YA
(6)
AY
(6)
PA
(5)
YA
(5)
AY
(5)
PA
(4)

pay in Words With Friends™

The word pay is playable in Words With Friends™, no blanks required.

Words With Friends™ Letter Score: 8

Highest Scoring Words With Friends™ Plays In The Letters pay:

YAP
(24)
YAP
(24)
PAY
(24)
PAY
(24)
PAY
(24)
YAP
(24)
 

All Words With Friends™ Plays For The Word pay

PAY
(24)
PAY
(24)
PAY
(24)
PAY
(22)
PAY
(16)
PAY
(16)
PAY
(16)
PAY
(16)
PAY
(15)
PAY
(14)
PAY
(12)
PAY
(11)
PAY
(10)
PAY
(9)
PAY
(8)

The 57 Highest Scoring Words With Friends™ Plays Using The Letters In pay

YAP
(24)
YAP
(24)
PAY
(24)
PAY
(24)
PAY
(24)
YAP
(24)
YAP
(22)
PAY
(22)
YAP
(16)
PAY
(16)
YAP
(16)
PAY
(16)
PAY
(16)
YAP
(16)
PAY
(16)
YAP
(16)
YAP
(15)
PAY
(15)
PA
(15)
PA
(15)
PAY
(14)
YAP
(14)
PA
(13)
YA
(12)
AY
(12)
AY
(12)
YAP
(12)
YA
(12)
PAY
(12)
YAP
(11)
PAY
(11)
AY
(10)
PAY
(10)
YAP
(10)
YA
(10)
PA
(10)
PA
(10)
PA
(9)
PAY
(9)
YAP
(9)
AY
(8)
AY
(8)
PAY
(8)
YAP
(8)
YA
(8)
YA
(8)
YA
(7)
PA
(7)
AY
(7)
YA
(6)
AY
(6)
PA
(6)
PA
(5)
AY
(5)
YA
(5)
YA
(4)
AY
(4)

Word Growth involving pay

Shorter words in pay

ay

pa

Longer words containing pay

backpay

copay copayment

overpay overpaying

overpay overpayment overpayments

overpay overpays

papaya papayas

payable repayable nonrepayable

payable repayable prepayable

payable unpayable

payback paybacks

paycheck paychecks

paycheque paycheques

payday paydays

paydirt

payed repayed

payed spayed

payee payees

payer nonpayer nonpayers

payer payers nonpayers

payer payers ratepayers

payer payers taxpayers

payer payers tithepayers

payer ratepayer ratepayers

payer taxpayer taxpayers

payer tithepayer tithepayers

paying nonpaying

paying overpaying

paying ratepaying

paying repaying nonrepaying

paying repaying prepaying

paying spaying mispaying

paying taxpaying

paying underpaying

paying unpaying

payload payloads

paymaster paymasters

payment copayment

payment downpayment

payment micropayment micropayments

payment nonpayment nonpayments

payment overpayment overpayments

payment payments micropayments

payment payments nonpayments

payment payments overpayments

payment payments repayments prepayments

payment payments underpayments

payment repayment prepayment prepayments

payment repayment repayments prepayments

payment underpayment underpayments

paymistress paymistresses

payoff payoffs

payola

payout payouts

payphone payphones

payroll payrolls

pays overpays

pays paysage paysages

pays paysagist paysagists

pays paysheet paysheets

pays payslip payslips

pays paystub paystubs

pays repays prepays

pays spays mispays

pays underpays

repay prepay prepayable

repay prepay prepaying

repay prepay prepayment prepayments

repay prepay prepays

repay repayable nonrepayable

repay repayable prepayable

repay repayal

repay repayed

repay repaying nonrepaying

repay repaying prepaying

repay repayment prepayment prepayments

repay repayment repayments prepayments

repay repays prepays

spay mispay mispaying

spay mispay mispays

spay spayed

spay spaying mispaying

spay spays mispays

underpay underpaying

underpay underpayment underpayments

underpay underpays