payback

play

noun pay·back \ ˈpā-ˌbak \

Definition of payback

1 :requital

2 :a return on an investment equal to the original capital outlay; also :the period of time elapsed before an investment is recouped

See payback defined for English-language learners

Examples of payback in a Sentence

They beat our team last year, so we've got to beat them this year as payback.
we are hoping to get payback for the humiliating defeat we suffered at the hands of our rivals during our last matchup

Recent Examples of payback from the Web

The Russian government ordered the U.S. to reduce its diplomatic staff in the country by 755, or nearly two-thirds, as payback for new sanctions passed by Congress.

— Bloomberg.com, "Your Evening Briefing," 31 July 2017
The additional financial sanctions, which U.S. lawmakers sought as payback for Russia’s meddling in last year’s presidential election, received almost unanimous, veto-proof support from both houses of Congress last week.

— chas danner, Daily Intelligencer, "Putin Orders Hundreds of U.S. Diplomats to Leave Russia," 30 July 2017
Under the deal to settle a class action lawsuit, the paybacks will equal half of whatever people paid for the tickets, and those who qualify will be notified in the mail in the next few months.

— john byrne, chicagotribune.com, "Aldermen bash, advance Emanuel's $38.75 million red light ticket settlement," 24 July 2017
Simpson's lawyer, Yale Galanter, was concerned the jurors might be tempted to be harsher in their decision making, as a kind of payback for the not guilty verdict in Simpson's criminal murder trial.

— stephanie becker, CNN, "O.J. Simpson's rise and fall, from football star to prisoner," 20 July 2017
Many believe the harsh sentence in this case was payback for another crime -- the double murder in 1994 for which he was found not guilty.

— CBS News, "What you need to know about O.J. Simpson's upcoming parole hearing," 19 July 2017
After serving him a meal made of his sons, Arya slit his throat as payback for the Red Wedding.

— tracy brown, latimes.com, "Where were we? Catching up with 'Game of Thrones'," 15 July 2017
The flip side is that support from social media could result in payback of a kind beyond potential compensation for damages.

— amy verner, Vogue, "Catching Up With Vika Gazinskaya and Brad Troemel in the Wake of Fashion’s Latest Copying Debate," 13 July 2017
Even without a bankruptcy filing, one option for the city could be to renegotiate the payback terms of Hartford's outstanding debt.

— dan haar, Courant Community, "Hartford Debt Dropped To Junk Bond Status By Standard & Poor's," 12 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'payback.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of payback

1718

payback Synonyms

Synonyms

revenge, reprisal, requital, retaliation, retribution, vengeance

Related Words

counter, counterattack, counteroffensive; castigation, chastisement, correction; desert (s), discipline, nemesis, penalty, punishment, wrath; amends, compensation, indemnification, indemnity, quittance, recompense, recoupment, redress, remuneration, reparation (s), restitution

Near Antonyms

clemency, grace, leniency, lenity, mercy; forgiveness, pardon, remission

PAYBACK Defined for English Language Learners

payback

play

noun

Definition of payback for English Language Learners

: punishment for something that was done in the past
: an amount of money that you receive after investing in something and that is equal to or greater than the amount of money that you originally invested
: the amount of time that passes before invested money is returned or before money that is owed is paid