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to pay dividends

to pay dividends

7 3.9
To produce good results later
  • phrasal verb
  • /peɪ ˈdɪvɪˌdɛndz/
translation icon : dar frutos
  • Investing in your education will pay dividends throughout your career by opening new opportunities.
  • begin paying dividends

What should we be doing today that we can expect to pay dividends in four and five years?

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Examples

  • The strength of the U.S.-Chinese relationship pays dividends in quiet but critical ways.

    Academic text (2007)
  • The position switch combined with Mark's new attitude quickly paid dividends on the practice field.

    Blog text (34)
  • And sure enough, that relationship paid dividends for her in more ways than one.

  • What should we be doing today that we can expect to pay dividends in four and five years?

  • The extra effort required is worth it and will pay dividends, especially if you learn names early in the year.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Again, the value of a bespoke approach pays dividends, even if it's a lot more work.

    Blog text (10)
  • Such systems for cleansing community water are public investments that pay dividends.

    Academic text (2007)
  • A proactive approach to informing your customers will pay dividends in greater customer satisfaction.

    Academic text (1997)
  • We expect it will pay dividends in higher circulation and greater patron satisfaction with the browsing experience.

    Academic text (2015)
  • The outside-of-the-box thinking is delivering technological advances that will pay dividends and quickly change the storage landscape.

    Blog text (1)

Synonyms

to pay off
vsto pay dividends
229 3.4

Bring a reward after hard work

yields ongoing or significant benefits that grow over time

Antonyms

1.0

Not do something you promised or should do

695 2.1

Money lost by a business or person

How Beneficial

to pay dividends
7 3.9
to pay off
229 3.4
to yield
183 3.6

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

pay + dividend

The phrase combines 'pay' (to give/produce) with 'dividends' (returns or benefits), so its meaning 'to yield benefits or positive returns' is directly inferable from the constituents. Although metaphorical (financial → general benefit), this mapping is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, so a learner who knows both words should grasp the expression.

Etymology

Pay dividends comes from investing, where a company pays regular dividends, small money payments, to people who own part of the company. So when an action 'pays dividends', it gives good results or rewards later.