put paid to
To terminate; to cancel (plans or expectations); to preclude (possibilities); to stop (something) once and for all.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“The heavy rain put paid to our plans for a picnic.”
“A sudden injury put paid to his hopes of winning the championship this year.”
“The unexpected discovery of the missing documents put paid to the company's long-standing legal defense and forced an immediate settlement.”
- 01
hell to pay
Very unpleasant consequences; a great deal of trouble.
- 02
hit pay dirt
To strike it rich; to get lucky or have a big break.
- 03
lipstick on a pig
To make superficial or cosmetic changes to something in a doomed attempt to disguise its fundamental flaws.
- 04
not to put too fine a point on it
Used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement one is making; to put it bluntly; to express it in plain terms.
- 05
pay a visit
To visit.
- 06
pay attention
To attend; to be attentive; to focus one's attention.
- 07
pay dividends
To bring about something good as a result of past effort or actions.
- 08
pay heed
To give attention; to heed.
Last updated August 10, 2026