to pay back
298
1.6
- phrasal verb
- /peɪ bæk/
:
devolver
- She promised to pay back the money she borrowed by the end of the month.
- pay back loans
- pay back money
- students pay back
What the heck do we do about paying back these student loans?
- What the heck do we do about paying back these student loans?
- How long does it take to pay back an amount like that?
- If that loan doesn't get paid back, who is guaranteeing it?
- Or perhaps he's angry at somebody who hasn't paid back his his debts.
- He said make sure you pay me back on certain date.
- Well, my lawyer keeps them on my behalf, but I pay him back eventually.
- They couldn't pay back their bills.
- And he did pay me back on Thursday, but I didn't feel the same.
- Ordinarily when you buy real estate, you pay the bank back a little bit every single month.
- And I said look, I'll pay it back, etcetera.
- Promises to pay back and may or may not pay back.
Examples
-
So, I'm going to pay him back now.
-
No, I wanted to pay you back for the train ticket.
-
How long does it take to pay back an amount like that?
-
You said I had 30 days to pay you back.
-
We could pay it back later.
-
But Ma worked the store day and night and paid back the money.
Fiction book (1994) -
People have been kind about it, but, sooner or later, we are going to have to pay it back.
-
Dad, I promise you, when I get famous, I'm gonna pay you back.
-
Pay me back for all the years of service.
-
I'm gonna get a job and I'm gonna help Dad pay back Mr. Gunk.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To give money for something you buy or owe
684
1.0
Return something to the person who owns it after you use or borrow it
153
2.7
Repay all the money you owe on a loan
75
1.7
To pay back money you borrowed
63
5.3
To pay back money someone spent for you
35
3.6
Give someone the money you owe them, often after they ask you
14
5.4
Pay off a debt or buy back something by making a payment
Antonyms
How Complete
298
1.6
75
1.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although 'pay' + 'back' transparently yields the sense 'repay' (which a B1 learner who knows the constituents could infer), the target definition here — 'to get even / take revenge' — is a metaphorical extension of repayment and not directly predictable from the literal meanings (especially given the provided senses of 'pay' as money transfer and 'back' as support). The revenge sense is ambiguous and idiomatic, so learners who only know the constituent words would likely not reliably infer this meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
Pay back comes from the simple picture of giving money back into someone's hand. Think of pay as 'give money' and back as 'return to the same person', so pay back means 'to return money'.