PAYOFF

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does payoff mean? 

• PAYOFF (noun)
  The noun PAYOFF has 4 senses:

1. the final payment of a debt

2. payment made to a person in a position of trust to corrupt his judgment

3. the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property

4. a recompense for worthy acts or retribution for wrongdoing

  Familiarity information: PAYOFF used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PAYOFF (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The final payment of a debt

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

final payment; payoff

Hypernyms ("payoff" is a kind of...):

payment (a sum of money paid or a claim discharged)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Payment made to a person in a position of trust to corrupt his judgment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

bribe; payoff

Hypernyms ("payoff" is a kind of...):

payment (a sum of money paid or a claim discharged)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "payoff"):

hush money (a bribe paid to someone to insure that something is kept secret)

kickback (a commercial bribe paid by a seller to a purchasing agent in order to induce the agent to enter into the transaction)

payola (a bribe given to a disc jockey to induce him to promote a particular record)

soap (money offered as a bribe)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

issue; payoff; proceeds; return; take; takings; yield

Context example:

the average return was about 5%

Hypernyms ("payoff" is a kind of...):

income (the financial gain (earned or unearned) accruing over a given period of time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "payoff"):

economic rent; rent (the return derived from cultivated land in excess of that derived from the poorest land cultivated under similar conditions)

payback (financial return or reward (especially returns equal to the initial investment))

Sense 4

Meaning:

A recompense for worthy acts or retribution for wrongdoing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

payoff; reward; wages

Context example:

virtue is its own reward

Hypernyms ("payoff" is a kind of...):

aftermath; consequence (the outcome of an event especially as relative to an individual)