pay back

The term "pay back" is versatile, commonly used in financial contexts to refer to repaying money and in interpersonal scenarios to denote seeking revenge.

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Definition

B1Finance

(common)To return money that was borrowed.

Example

  • I'll pay you back next week.
  • You can pay back the loan over a period of three years.

B2Interpersonal

(common, informal)To seek revenge for a wrong done.

Example

  • I'll pay him back for making me look like a fool.

C1Business

(technical)To recoup a capital investment over a period of time.

Example

  • The company expects to pay back the investment within five years.

Similar

Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "pay back":

give backtake backpay offget backpay outsend backback payput backwin backrap backanswer backmake it up topay the piperfight backask backhit backbounce backsquare upcall backkick backring backpush backcircle backpay the rentthrow backtalk backreport backstrike backpay one's duesdevil to paybring backgo back oncome backrow back