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Glite Dictionary
to pay up

to pay up

35 3.6
Give someone the money you owe them, often after they ask you
  • phrasal verb
  • /peɪ ʌp/
  • Informal
translation icon : pagar
  • You need to pay up within the next week to settle your debt.

I do think Trump is doing the classic negotiation tactic, Hey, pay up or you're getting evicted.

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Examples

  • When you see him, you tell him he better pay up before I get to him.

    The Sting (1973)

  • Here it is, now pay up and shut up.

    Blog text (27)

  • Just get ready to pay up.

    Wheely (2018)

  • Yeah, you better pay up.

    The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937)

  • Families here will pay up to $50 an hour for private lessons.

    Blog text (16)

  • Pay up or get off at the next stop.

    Derailed (2005)

  • And now their teams have had to pay up to keep them in the fold and away from a suitor.

    Blog text (27)

  • The plan would pay up to twenty-five hundred dollars per student for them to attend a nonpublic school.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Parents who have only one or two children are expected to pay up to 50% of school costs (Lomunova 1988).

    Academic text (1991)

  • Coleman Homes will pay up to $3,000 in closing costs when the buyers finance with an approved lender.

    Blog text (23)

Synonyms

to pay
vsto pay up
∞ 1.0

To give money for something you buy or owe

focuses on giving money owed because someone asked or demanded it
to pay back
vsto pay up
298 1.6

Give back money you borrowed from someone

is about giving owed money often after being asked
to repay
vsto pay up
75 1.7

To pay back money you borrowed

is about giving owed money often after being asked
to shell out
vsto pay up
  • Informal
30 7.1

Pay a large amount of money even when you do not want to

is about giving owed money, not necessarily implying size
to cough up
vsto pay up
  • Informal
23 6.5

To pay money unwillingly after being pressured

is used when the payment is owed and often requested
to pony up
vsto pay up
  • Informal
21 8.2

Pay money, often reluctantly, when others expect it

focuses more narrowly on paying money that is owed after request
to fork over
vsto pay up
  • Informal
15 6.1

To give money to someone after they ask or force you

is the same act but emphasizes owed money and demand
to ante up
vsto pay up
  • Informal
8 7.8

Pay money you owe as your part of a shared bill

is about giving money owed to a person after request
to fork out
vsto pay up
  • Informal
3 7.5

To pay money when you do not want to

is about settling an owed amount, often after a request
to fork up
vsto pay up
  • Informal
1 8.1

To pay money unwillingly

is about giving money that is owed after being told
to spit up
vsto pay up
  • Informal
7.7

To give something, often money, because others make you do it

describes giving owed money particularly when someone demands it

Antonyms

to withhold
210 5.1

Refuse to give something someone wants or needs

to default
  • Specialized
55 6.7

Fail to pay money you owe on a loan

How Prompt

to pay up
  • Informal
35 3.6

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

pay + up

The verb 'pay' (transfer money) combined with the particle 'up' yields a sense of completing or settling a payment, so a learner who knows both constituents can reasonably infer it means to settle what is owed. The exact pragmatic nuance (e.g. payment after prompting or reluctance) is not fully predictable without exposure, so the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Pay up comes from the image of handing over money to finish a debt: you give what you owe so the debt is done. So pay up means 'to give someone the money you owe them', often after they ask.