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to pay back
01
to seek revenge on someone for something they did
Transitive: to pay back sb
Grammatical Information
Composition
phrasal
Action verb
Regular
Separable
Particle
back
Base verb
pay
Present tense
pay back
3rd person singular
pays back
Present participle
paying back
Past simple
paid back
Past participle
paid back
Examples
He vowed to pay them back for ruining his reputation.
02
to return an amount of money that was borrowed
Transitive: to pay back borrowed money | to pay back sb
Examples
They set up a monthly plan to pay the bank back for the mortgage.
03
to return a favor or reward someone for their actions
Transitive: to pay back sb | to pay back a favor
Examples
To pay back the community's kindness, he organized a free event for everyone.
