PAY, v.t. pret. and pp. paid.

1. Compensation; recompense; an equivalent given for money due, goods purchased or services performed; salary or wages for services; hire. The merchant receives pay for goods sold; the soldier receives pay for his services, but the soldiers of the American revolution never received full pay.
2. Compensation; reward. Here only merit constant pay receives. – Pope.

To pay, as, in seamen's language, is to fall to leeward, as the head of a ship. – Mar. Dict. To pay on, to beat with vigor; to redouble blows. [Colloquial.]

1. To discharge a debt; to deliver to a creditor the value of the debt, either in money or goods, to his acceptance or satisfaction, by which the obligation of the debtor is discharged.
2. To discharge a duty created by promise or by custom or by the moral law; as, to pay a debt of honor or of kindness. You have paid down / More penitence, than done trespass. – Shak.
3. To fulfill; to perform what is promised; as, to pay one's vows. – Scripture.
4. To render what is due to a superior, or demanded by civility or courtesy; as, to pay respect to a magistrate; to pay due honor to parents.
5. To beat. For which, or pay me quickly, or I'll pay you. – B. Jonson.
6. To reward; to recompense; as, to pay for kindness with neglect. – Dryden. To pay for, to make amends; to atone by suffering. Men often pay for their mistakes with loss of property or reputation, sometimes with life.
7. To give on equivalent for any thing purchased. To pay, or pay over, in seamen's language, to daub or besmear the surface of any body, to preserve it from injury by water or weather. To pay the bottom of a vessel, to cover it with a composition of tallow, sulphur, resin, &c; to bream. To pay a mast or yard, to besmear it with tar, turpentine, resin, tallow or varnish. To pay a seam, to pour melted pitch along it, so as to defend the oakum. To pay off, to make compensation to and discharge; as, to pay off the crew of a ship. To pay out, to slacken, extend or cause to run out; as, to pay out more cable. – Mar. Dict.

1. To cover, as bottom of a vessel, a seam, a spar, etc., with tar or pitch, or waterproof composition of tallow, resin, etc.; to smear.
2. To satisfy, or content] specifically, to satisfy (another person) for service rendered, property delivered, etc.; to discharge one's obligation to; to make due return to; to compensate; to remunerate; to recompense; to requite; as, to pay workmen or servants.
   
   

   May no penny ale them pay [i. e., satisfy]. P. Plowman.

   [She] pays me with disdain. Dryden.

3. Hence, to make or secure suitable return for expense or trouble; to be remunerative or profitable; to be worth the effort or pains required; as, it will pay to ride; it will pay to wait; politeness always pays.
   
   

   To pay for. (a) To make amends for; to atone for; as, men often pay for their mistakes with loss of property or reputation, sometimes with life. (b) To give an equivalent for; to bear the expense of; to be mulcted on account of.

   'T was I paid for your sleeps; I watched your wakings. Beau. *** Fl.

   -- To pay off. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Naut.) To fall to leeward, as the head of a vessel under sail. -- To pay on. [Etymol. uncertain.] To beat with vigor] to redouble blows. [Colloq.] -- To pay round [Etymol. uncertain.] (Naut.) To turn the ship's head.

4. Satisfaction; content.
   
   
   Chaucer.
5. Hence, figuratively: To compensate justly; to requite according to merit; to reward; to punish; to retort or retaliate upon.
   
   

   For which, or pay me quickly, or I'll pay you. B. Jonson.

6. An equivalent or return for money due, goods purchased, or services performed; salary or wages for work or service; compensation; recompense; payment; hire; as, the pay of a clerk; the pay of a soldier.
   
   

   Where only merit constant pay receives. Pope.

   There is neither pay nor plunder to be got. L'Estrange.

   Full pay, the whole amount of wages or salary; maximum pay; especially, the highest pay or allowance to civil or military officers of a certain rank, without deductions. -- Half pay. See under Half. -- Pay day, the day of settlement of accounts. -- Pay dirt (Mining), earth which yields a profit to the miner. [Western U.S.] -- Pay office, a place where payment is made. -- Pay roll, a roll or list of persons entitled to payment, with the amounts due.

7. To discharge, as a debt, demand, or obligation, by giving or doing what is due or required; to deliver the amount or value of to the person to whom it is owing; to discharge a debt by delivering (money owed).
   
   
   "Pay me that thou owest." Matt. xviii. 28.

   Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Matt. xviii. 26.

   If they pay this tax, they starve. Tennyson.

8. To discharge or fulfill, as a duy; to perform or render duty, as that which has been promised.
   
   

   This day have I paid my vows. Prov. vii. 14.

9. To give or offer, without an implied obligation; as, to pay attention; to pay a visit.
   
   

   Not paying me a welcome. Shak.

   To pay off. (a) To make compensation to and discharge; as, to pay off the crew of a ship. (b) To allow (a thread, cord, etc.) to run off; to unwind. -- To pay one's duty, to render homage, as to a sovereign or other superior. -- To pay out (Naut.), to pass out; hence, to slacken; to allow to run out; as, to pay out more cable. See under Cable. -- To pay the piper, to bear the cost, expense, or trouble. [Colloq.]