pay-off

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See also: payoff and pay off

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Deverbal from pay off.

Pronunciation

Noun

pay-off (plural pay-offs)

  1. A payment in full; the state of having been paid in full.
    At the current monthly payment level, it'll take 32 more months to reach pay-off.
  2. A reward.
    What's the pay-off for putting up with her nonsense for ages on end?
  3. A return on investment.
    How soon could we realistically expect any pay-off from loading up on shares of that company?
  4. A bribe.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bribe
    The prison break never could have succeeded if it hadn't been for multiple pay-offs to various corrupt officers.
  5. (colloquial) A resolution or justification of an event that has already occurred, especially in fiction.
    Where's the pay-off for that whole segment of the plot?
  6. (baseball) Short for payoff pitch.
    The bases are loaded, so he'd better make the pay-off count.

Derived terms

Translations