to pay one's debt to society
5
7.1
- idiom
:
cumplir con la sociedad
- After serving ten years in prison, he has finally paid his debt to society and is ready to rebuild his life.
Examples
-
Mr. Vick paid his debt to society.
Blog text (34) -
Once people pay their debt to society, shouldn't they be allowed to move on with their lives?
Blog text (23) -
For which the two women will now pay their debt to society.
Blog text (16) -
I feel Danny has paid his debt to society.
-
Okay: let the U.S. Attorney know that our client has paid his debt to society.
Fiction book (1991) -
Or will there be a chance he can pay his debt to society, learn from the experience, and reform himself?
Blog text (29) -
He paid his debt to society.
-
We all have recourse to the law, and it's time he paid his debt to society.
Blog text (20) -
He had done his time and paid his debt to society.
Fiction book (1997) -
Frederick Makepeace is paying his debt to society.
Synonyms
306
7.5
To spend time in prison as a punishment
35
6.7
To spend time in prison as punishment for a crime
Antonyms
How Punished
5
7.1
35
6.7
107
3.4
- Informal
1
7.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
pay + one + debt + to + society
The sense 'to serve punishment or make amends to the community' is partially inferable because 'pay' and 'debt' suggest repaying something owed and 'society' indicates the community to whom it is owed; however, the use of 'debt' metaphorically for legal or moral obligation and the specific sense of serving a sentence is idiomatic and requires cultural/legal knowledge. Cross-linguistically similar moral-debt metaphors exist, but the precise penal meaning is not fully predictable for a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words.
Etymology
The phrase pay one's debt to society comes from the simple image of debt and society: if someone 'owes' something to the community, they must 'pay' it back by spending time in prison or doing community service. So pay one's debt to society means 'to serve one's punishment'.