To pay off is to repay a debt in full — or for an effort to bring a good result. Two senses, one financial and one hopeful.
The debt sense splits round an object, and paying off a mortgage is one of the great milestones. The reward sense is intransitive, so a risk that pays off has worked, and it is the phrase every gamble is judged by. There is a third and dishonest sense, since paying somebody off means bribing them into silence. The noun payoff means the reward or the bribe depending on the company.
Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove
First appears in chapter 11 of A Man Called Ove.
Practise this word