pay

/peɪ/ noun

a salary or wages, money given to someone for regular work

♦ holiday with pay a holiday which an employee can take by contract and for which he or she is paid

■ verb1. to give money to buy an item or a service

● to pay £1,000 for a car

● How much did you pay to have the office cleaned?

♦ ‘pay cash’ words written on a crossed cheque to show that it can be paid in cash if necessary

♦ to pay in advance to pay before you receive the item bought or before the service has been completed

● We had to pay in advance to have the new telephone system installed.

♦ to pay in instalments to pay for an item by giving small amounts regularly

● We are buying the van by paying instalments of £500 a month.

♦ to pay cash to pay the complete sum in cash

♦ to pay by cheque to pay by giving a cheque, not by using cash or credit card

♦ to pay by credit card to pay using a credit card, not a cheque or cash

2. to produce or distribute money

♦ to pay a dividend to give shareholders a part of the profits of a company

● These shares pay a dividend of 1.5p.

♦ to pay interest to give money as interest on money borrowed or invested

● Some building societies pay interest of 5%.

3. to give an employee money for work done

● The workforce has not been paid for three weeks.

● We pay good wages for skilled workers.

● How much do they pay you per hour?

♦ to be paid by the hour to get money for each hour worked

♦ to be paid at piecework rates to get money for each piece of work finished

4. to give money which is owed or which has to be paid

● He was late paying the bill.

● We phoned to ask when they were going to pay the invoice.

● You will have to pay duty on these imports.

● She pays tax at the highest rate.

♦ to pay on demand to pay money when it is asked for, not after a period of credit

♦ please pay the sum of £10 please give £10 in cash or by cheque

5.

♦ to pay a cheque into an account to deposit money in the form of a cheque

(NOTE: [all verb senses] paying–paid)

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‘…recession encourages communication not because it makes redundancies easier, but because it makes low or zero pay increases easier to accept’ [Economist]

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‘…the yield figure means that if you buy the shares at their current price you will be getting 5% before tax on your money if the company pays the same dividend as in its last financial year’ [Investors Chronicle]