Pay (pā), v. i. To give a recompense; to make payment, requital, or satisfaction; to discharge a debt.
The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again. Ps. xxxvii. 21.
2. 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. (Naut.) To fall to leeward, as the head of a vessel under sail. — To pay on. To beat with vigor; to redouble blows. — To pay round(Naut.) To turn the ship's head.