pony up

verb

ponied up; ponying up; ponies up
Synonyms of pony upnext

transitive verb

: to pay (money) especially in settlement of an account

Examples of pony up in a Sentence

despite having good credit, the couple still had to pony up a large down payment for the house
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Now in his 70s, Mike recently elected to give up his tickets rather than pony up for a PSL — a fee paid by customers of some NFL franchises to gain the right to purchase season tickets. Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 7 Apr. 2026 Tech just needs to pony up for any of it to mean much. Tyler Estep, AJC.com, 25 Mar. 2026 Suggested donations for the event started at $250, and in order to snag a spot on the host committee, lobbyists had to pony up at least $3,500. Robert Schmad, The Washington Examiner, 19 Mar. 2026 The company estimates there are at least a million tennis fans who would pony up for its app and millions more casual fans who might watch for free or listen to a podcast. Lucas Shaw, Bloomberg, 9 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for pony up

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1824, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of pony up was in 1824

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pony up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pony%20up. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.

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