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pay the piper

pay the pip·er
P p

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [pey stressed th ee pahy-per]
    • /peɪ stressed ði ˈpaɪ pər/
    • /peɪ ðə ˈpaɪ.pər/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [pey stressed th ee pahy-per]
    • /peɪ stressed ði ˈpaɪ pər/

Definitions of pay the piper words

  • noun pay the piper a person who plays on a pipe. 1
  • noun pay the piper a bagpiper. 1
  • idioms pay the piper pay the piper, to pay the cost of something. to bear the unfavorable consequences of one's actions or pleasures: Someday he'll have to pay the piper for all that gambling. 1
  • verbal expression pay the piper face the consequences 1
  • noun pay the piper to pay for one's pleasures or bear the consequences of one's actions 0

Information block about the term

Origin of pay the piper

First appearance:

before 1000
One of the 6% oldest English words
before 1000; Middle English; Old English pīpere. See pipe1, -er1

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Pay the piper

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

pay the piper popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 95% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

pay the piper usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for pay the piper

verb pay the piper

  • bite the bullet — to face up to (pain, trouble, etc) with fortitude; be stoical
  • face it — accept reality
  • face the music — an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.
  • face up to — the front part of the head, from the forehead to the chin.
  • grin and bear it — to suffer trouble or hardship without complaint

See also

Matching words

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