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to pay

to pay

148 5.6
To make a short visit to someone as a courtesy
  • verb
  • /peɪ/
: visitar
  • I'll also pay him a little visit.
  • pay a visit
  • pay a call

Examples

  • Let's go pay the good doctor a visit.

  • So how about we pay them a surprise visit?

  • When do we pay our visit to the old Master Control, huh?

  • You know, we were wondering when you were gonna stop by and pay us a visit.

  • I thought I'd pay you a visit.

  • Thought we'd pay you a visit.

  • Faculty members and students crowded together to pay their final respects to the popular teacher.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The sheriff and six officers paid the man a late-night visit.

    Academic text (2011)
  • And Bill, I hope you'll be able to pay us a visit sometime after you get settled.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Yesterday, I decided to pay a visit to my grandmother to see how she was feeling.

Synonyms

to pay a visit
vsto pay
127 2.3

To go to someone's home or another place for a short time

is done as a polite duty or courtesy rather than just briefly
to render
vsto pay
67 3.9

To give something to another person or authority, often formally

focuses on performing a polite or dutiful action rather than giving items

Antonyms

∞ 1.0

To stay away from something or not do it to stop something bad from happening

94 3.5

Not caring for someone or something that needs care

Idioms

hell to pay
  • Informal
21 8.6

Serious trouble or punishment someone gets for something they did

to pay the piper
  • Informal
10 7.7

Accept the bad result of something you did

to hit pay dirt
  • Informal
9 7.5

To find big success or money after trying hard

5 8.0

Give much more money than normal for something

1 8.1

To accept the cost or bad result of something

in the pay of
  • Literature
1 8.8

Getting secret money from someone to do what they want

1 8.2

Something I do not have the responsibility or power to decide at work

1 8.9

Face the bad results of your actions after enjoying something

Treat someone in the same bad way they treated you

1 8.2

To get revenge or settle a past wrong

Cover your own costs without help

Suffer a heavy cost to meet an unfair demand

To serve the punishment for a crime, often by going to prison

Phrasal Verbs

To focus on someone or something and notice carefully

347 1.6

Give back money you borrowed from someone

269 2.7

Repay all the money you owe on a loan

203 3.4

Bring a reward after hard work

to pay the bills
  • Informal
158 2.3

Provide enough money to cover regular living costs like rent and food

127 2.3

To go to someone's home or another place for a short time

108 1.7

Use paper money and coins to buy something

to pay up
  • Informal
67 3.6

Give someone the money you owe them, often after they ask you

65 3.8

To give money from a fund or account

To give money regularly to your landlord for your home

58 5.0

Give someone money to influence them in a dishonest way

to pay dues
  • Informal
39 6.0

Do hard work and make sacrifices before you succeed

to pay homage
  • Formal
25 5.8

Show deep respect to someone or something, often in public

24 3.6

Give money to someone for work or help

20 5.5

To show great respect to someone in public for their work

To produce good results later

to pay dearly
  • Informal
16 5.8

To suffer serious harm or loss because of an action

to pay back
  • Informal
11 3.2

Do something to someone to hurt them for what they did

to pay alimony
  • Specialized
11 6.3

To give regular money to an ex-wife or ex-husband to support them after a divorce

9 7.2

Say they support something but do not act on it

to pay heed
  • Formal
8 4.5

To listen carefully to advice or warnings

1 7.8

Spend extra money to buy something because it costs more or is hard to find

to pay off
  • Informal
1 5.1

Take revenge on someone for a wrong

To work hard for a long time to earn respect or success

To give good results quickly

Compounds

pay-phone
  • Archaic
112 2.0

A public phone you use by putting coins or a card in it

29 2.8

A reduction in the money a worker receives from their job

18 3.7

A job level that sets how much pay an employee gets

13 7.5

A discovery or idea that makes a lot of money after hard work

The money you keep after taxes and other payments are taken out

5 4.5

Extra money given to a worker for good job performance

combat pay
  • Formal
4 5.0

Extra money paid to soldiers who serve in war zones

pay dirt
  • Specialized
4 7.2

Earth or rock that has valuable minerals worth mining

3 3.0

The amount of money a worker gets for each hour or week of work

1 2.4

The amount of money given for work, usually per hour or week

half-pay
  • Archaic
1 7.0

A smaller amount of money given to a worker who is not working full time but is still employed

1 2.3

Money a worker receives while they are off work because they are sick

1 3.5

The money a worker gets for work, often in an envelope

1 3.9

A machine you use to pay for parking or tickets

pay envelope
  • Archaic
1 3.2

An envelope that holds the money a worker gets, often given on pay day

strike pay
  • Jargon
1 6.7

Money a union gives members during a strike to help with living costs

1 4.1

A student loan plan that limits monthly payments to part of your income and may forgive the rest after years

pay claim
  • Jargon
1 4.4

A formal request by workers, usually through their union, for higher pay

1 4.3

A system that takes income tax from workers' pay before they receive it

pay-station
  • Archaic
5.2

A public telephone you use by putting coins in it

How Formal

respects
  • Formal
83 3.7
to call on
40 3.1
to pay
148 5.6
to visit
∞ 1.0
to drop by
  • Informal
197 2.5

Surface Forms

pay infinitive
paying present participle
pays third person singular
paid past
paid past participle

Etymology

Pay a visit comes from the same old idea of 'giving' — to pay someone a visit is to 'give' them your time or a formal call, often as a courtesy.