pay for sth phrasal verb
to be punished for doing something bad to someone else, or to suffer because of a mistake that you made:
We all pay for our mistakes in some way at some time.
He tricked me and I'm going to make him pay for it!

[TahlilGaran] Advanced Learner's Dictionary ▲

pay for
to pay money for something
I paid for dinner for my friends.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

pay for something
to pay money for something
I paid for dinner for my friends.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

pay for
v. To have trouble because of (something you did wrong or did not do); be punished or suffer because of.
When Bob could not get a good job, he realized he had to pay for all the years of fooling around instead of working in school.
Mary was very mean to John because she wanted to make him pay for all the years in which he had ignored her.
Compare: MAKE UP(3b), PAY OFF.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲