See Also:

pay(1) (iou)



pay noun. ME.
[Old & mod. French paie, formed as PAY verb1.]
Satisfaction, pleasure, liking. Chiefly in to pay, acceptably. ME-E17.
Money paid for labour or service; wages, salary, stipend. ME.
B. Castle With statutory incomes controls abolished, both consultants and GPs were getting restive about their pay. Jazz & Blues Jones certainly earned his pay.
fig. Retaliation, penalty, retribution; punishment. Also, recompense, compensation. Long obsolete exc. dial. ME.
Shakespeare Venus & Adonis When her lips were ready for his pay.
a. The action of paying, payment, esp. of wages or salary. LME.
Guardian At Boots, the highest rate of pay rose by 58 per cent.
b. The condition of being (regularly) paid. Chiefly in in pay, in the pay of, below. L16.
A (good, bad, etc.) person at repaying debts. E18.
Mining. A remunerative yield of metal, oil, or natural gas. Also, a bed of ore etc. yielding this. M19.
= PAYMASTER. slang. L19.
Phrases: dead pay: see DEAD adjective & adverb. equal pay: see EQUAL adjective. full pay: see FULL adjective. in pay in receipt of a wage or salary. in the pay of in the paid employment of. RETIRED pay. sick pay: see SICK adjective. to pay: see sense 1 above.