pay

/peɪ/ noun [U]

Definition

› the money you receive for doing a job: There has been a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions. Workers threatened to strike over the low pay of the support staff. They agreed to give six months off work with full pay for staff whose jobs are to be outsourced. The current starting pay is about $500 a week.a pay award/deal/settlement Councils will have to fund the teachers' pay award from within their own resources.a pay cut Employees have a choice between taking a pay cut or working more.a pay hike/increase Pilots have received annual pay increases of only 1.5% since the ruling. hourly/monthly/weekly pay overtime/retirement pay holiday/vacation pay redundancy/severance pay executive pay → See Note benefit, income

be in the pay of sb › to work for someone, especially secretly: Doctors in the pay of drug companies were accused yesterday of exaggerating the benefits of antidepressant drugs for children.