Word family noun pay payment repayment payer payee adjective paid ≠ unpaid underpaid ≠ overpaid payable verb pay repay underpay ≠ overpay
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrepayre‧pay /rɪˈpeɪ/ ●●○ verb (past tense and past participle repaid) [transitive] 1 BFLto pay back money that you have borrowedrepay a loan/debt etc Your mortgage will be repaid over 25 years.repay somebody something I’ll repay you the money you lent me next week.RegisterIn everyday English, people usually say that someone pays money back rather than repays it:I'll pay you back the money at the end of the week.2 GIVEto do something for someone, or give them something, in return for helping yourepay somebody for something How can we repay him for everything he’s done? I’d like to buy them something to repay all their kindness.3 GOOD ENOUGHif something repays your time, effort etc, it is worth the time or effort you have spent→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
repay• Failure to repay a student loan can ruin a person's credit rating.• Within eight years he had fully repaid his creditors and accumulated a greater fortune than ever before.• The money must be repaid if that mission is to occur.• Mr Kerr added that none of the companies that had received the irregular payments had been required to repay money.• Net proceeds will be used to repay short and long-term debt, refinance long term debt and for working capital.• There were doubts about the country's ability to repay the debt.• She apparently stopped repaying the loan after the bank changed ownership and lost the loan documents, they said.• He did not arrange trips and could not repay the money.• For that failure the solicitors offered to repay their conveyancing fee: a staggeringly low £160.• My parents lent me the money to buy a car, and I repaid them over the next year.• The loan has to be repaid within two years.repay a loan/debt etc• Default: failure to repay a loan.• Do they return the money to shareholders through higher dividends or repay debt?• That generated plenty of dollars the government could use to repay debts.• The real-estate investment trust said it will use the notes to finance property acquisitions and to repay debt.• Council officials say they used the $ 8 million to repay loans and expenses connected with the mifepristone project.• Net proceeds will be used to repay debt and for working capital and possible acquisitions.• Net proceeds will be used to buy computer equipment, repay debt and for working capital; underwriter is Biltmore Securities Inc.• In money terms, therefore, it is cheaper to repay loans quickly because interest will be saved.repay somebody for something• We'll never be able to repay you for all you've done.From Longman Business Dictionaryrepayre‧pay /rɪˈpeɪ/ verb (past tense and past participle repaid) [transitive]FINANCE to pay back money that has been borrowedThe funds will be used torepay short-termdebt.repay somebody somethingThe company will repay creditors $25 million over 10 months. —repayable adjective [not before a noun]The loan is repayable over 12 months.→ See Verb table 