pay off

Meaning

1. Oxford70% of films

   to finish paying money owed for sth

2. Oxford25% of films

   to be successful and bring good results

   He may be a slacker, but he makes business investments that pay off.

3. Oxford5% of films

   to give sb money to prevent them from doing sth or talking about sth illegal or dishonest that you have done

In the movies · 46

• So I worked all summer to pay off those debts and...There's Something About Mary1998
• ...we'll know the people who paid off the burglars.All the President's Men1976
• He may be a slacker, but he makes business investments that pay off.Atlas Shrugged: Part I2011
• Israel better pay off.World War Z2013
• to pay off that loan.Mary Poppins Returns2018
• A.I.G. has to pay off the swaps...Too Big to Fail2011
• It'll pay off. You'll see.The Holdovers2023
• is really starting to pay off.Zootopia2016

Learn it in full scenes

• There's Something About Mary1998
  • Ted Asks Mary to the Prom
  • Ted Asks Mary to the Prom
  • Ted Meets Mary's Family
• All the President's Men1976
  • Police Arrest the Watergate Burglars
  • Woodward Traces the White House Call
  • Who Gets the Watergate Story
• Atlas Shrugged: Part I2011
  • Dagny Defies James Over Rearden Metal
  • Dagny and Rearden's Metal Deal
  • Rearden Gives Lillian a Metal Gift

From the same entry

• the devil to pay
• he who pays the piper calls the tune
• pay court to
• pay dividends
• pay for itself
• pay good money for
• pay its way
• pay the penalty
• pay your respects
• pay through the nose
• pay your way
• you pays your money and you takes your choice

More phrasal verbs

• throw up
• fall for
• eat out
• break out
• run into
• log in
• breathe out
• drop by
• look into
• mess with
• fall behind
• come out of