pay to play
To incur a cost to participate in an activityTo incur a cost to participate in an activity; especially, in a corrupt way.
» Tom gets paid to play basketball.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
3 senses(broadly)To incur a cost to participate in an activity; especially, in a corrupt way.
To incur a cost to participate in an activity; especially, in a corrupt way.
(US, broadly, especially)To make a campaign contribution or illegal payment to avail oneself of business or other opportunities controlled by politicians or civil servants.
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see pay, to, play.
Examples
5 sentencesTom gets paid to play basketball.
I get paid to play basketball.
It doesn't pay to play video games.
Ziri was paid to play video games.
"I pay, you play, got it?", said Tom to the guitarist.
Origin
From the sometime practice of charging a fee for admission to a gambling game.From the sometime practice of charging a fee for admission to a gambling game.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
pays to play, paying to play, paid to play, paid to play| Base form | pay to play · to pay to play |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | pays to play |
| Present participle | paying to play |
| Past simple | paid to play |
| Past participle | paid to play |
irregular · Lesson
Lessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, irregular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle