pony up

verb

ponied up; ponying up; ponies up

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.
One conundrum that lingers in the marketplace is that some indie theatrical distributors are without a pay-one deal/streaming partner, and the subset that’s willing to pony up — sellers cite Hulu, HBO Max and Starz — is quite small and capped in cash. Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2025 This begs the question of who the agencies believe will step in to pony up $18 billion in new capital to fund the ongoing operations of the 100 gw of coal plants Sec. David Blackmon, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025 Jason Sudeikis, Robert Smigel, and George Wendt hectored Kelce to (1) make Taylor pony up for a new stadium and (2) propose already. Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 14 Aug. 2025 Local restaurants across the country are reeling as some key costs skyrocket and consumers — who remain nervous about the economy’s future — cut back and become less willing to pony up for higher prices. Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 10 Aug. 2025 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 9 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!