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Glite Dictionary
to pay off old scores

to pay off old scores

8.2
To get revenge or settle a past wrong
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : saldar cuentas
  • He believed that confronting his bullies would help him pay off old scores from his childhood.

Examples

  • After years of rivalry, she finally had the chance to pay off old scores with her former teammates.

  • At the reunion, they discussed how to pay off old scores and mend broken friendships.

  • An officer in the OGPU was well placed to pay off old scores.

    Fiction book (1994)

Synonyms

to get even
vsto pay off old scores
  • Informal
46 5.4

To do something to hurt someone because they hurt you

aims at settling earlier grievances for closure rather than only balancing harm
to settle
vsto pay off old scores
  • Offensive
36 8.6

To take revenge on someone who harmed you

refers to resolving past disputes often through retribution or achieving closure
to fix
vsto pay off old scores
  • Informal
29 8.2

To get revenge on someone for something they did

focuses more on resolving past grievances often to get closure rather than punish
to pay back
vsto pay off old scores
  • Informal
9 3.2

Do something to someone to hurt them for what they did

is used to settle past disputes aiming for retribution or closure
to settle a score
vsto pay off old scores
  • Offensive
2 6.2

To get revenge for something someone did to you

focuses on resolving past disputes often seeking closure rather than mere retaliation
to pay off
vsto pay off old scores
  • Informal
1 5.1

Take revenge on someone for a wrong

focuses on settling old grievances with intent to obtain closure or revenge
to settle someone's hash
vsto pay off old scores
  • Slang
9.3

To punish or defeat someone to stop their harmful actions

aims at settling past disputes with retribution or closure rather than decisive punishment

Antonyms

to let go
381 3.7

To stop worrying about something and relax

to disregard
119 3.9

Ignore something or someone on purpose

How Vengeful

to revenge
9 4.2
to get even
  • Informal
46 5.4
to pay off old scores
  • Informal
8.2
to let it go
370 3.5
to forgive
∞ 1.4

Surface Forms

pay off old scores infinitive
paid off old scores past
paid off old scores past participle
paying off old scores present participle
pays off old scores third person singular

Morphology

pay + off + old + score

The phrase breaks down into 'pay off' (to settle) + 'old scores' (past grievances), so the metaphor of settling a debt transferred to settling a grudge is recoverable from the parts. However, the non-literal sense of 'score' as 'grudge' and the figurative use of 'pay off' are somewhat idiomatic and may not be fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure.

Etymology

Pay off old scores comes from the simple image of clearing a debt from long ago. To pay off is to finish or clear what you owe, and scores were marks or records of old debts or wrongs, so to 'pay off old scores' came to mean 'settle past disputes' or 'get revenge'.