Idiom
pay off old scores
Meaning
To settle old grudges by taking revenge.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He wants to pay off old scores with his rival.”
“After winning the election, the politician used his new power to pay off old scores against his former critics.”
“The protagonist returned to his hometown not for reconciliation, but to systematically pay off old scores against those who had betrayed him years ago.”
Examples
simple
“He wants to pay off old scores with his rival.”
contextual
“After winning the election, the politician used his new power to pay off old scores against his former critics.”
complex
“The protagonist returned to his hometown not for reconciliation, but to systematically pay off old scores against those who had betrayed him years ago.”
Key words
Related idioms
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