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PAY OFF
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I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Take vengeance on or get even
Example:
This time I got him
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities
Hypernyms (to "pay off" is one way to...):
get back; get even (take revenge or even out a score)
Verb group:
pay (make a compensation for)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Sense 2
Meaning:
Do or give something to somebody in return
Example:
Does she pay you for the work you are doing?
Synonyms:
compensate; make up; pay; pay off
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Hypernyms (to "pay off" is one way to...):
settle (dispose of; make a financial settlement)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Sense 3
Meaning:
Pay off (loans or promissory notes)
Synonyms:
pay off; redeem
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Hypernyms (to "pay off" is one way to...):
pay (give money, usually in exchange for goods or services)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 4
Meaning:
Pay someone with influence in order to receive a favor
Synonyms:
buy off; pay off
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Hypernyms (to "pay off" is one way to...):
bribe; buy; corrupt; grease one's palms (make illegal payments to in exchange for favors or influence)
Domain category:
crime; criminal offence; criminal offense; law-breaking ((criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Sense 5
Meaning:
Yield a profit or result
Example:
His efforts finally paid off
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Hypernyms (to "pay off" is one way to...):
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Sense 6
Meaning:
Eliminate by paying off (debts)
Synonyms:
liquidate; pay off
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Hypernyms (to "pay off" is one way to...):
ante up; pay; pay up (cancel or discharge a debt)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pay off"):
lift (pay off (a mortgage))
amortise; amortize (liquidate gradually)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Context examples:
But I am mate, now, and when I pay off at ’Frisco, maybe with five hundred dollars, I will ship myself on a windjammer round the Horn to Liverpool, which will give me more money; and then I will pay my passage from there home.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Over the past two years, you have hosted Saturn and Pluto in your eighth house, pressing on you to sort through matters of credit, loans, and money matters in general, but now that generous, good-fortune Jupiter has entered this house, you now find yourself in a period of reward, and all the hard work you did over the past two years to organize your finances and make more money in the future will pay off.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
