From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpay somebody/something ↔ back phrasal verb1 BFLPAY FORto give someone the money that you owe them SYN repay I’ll pay you back on Friday. We’re paying back the loan over 15 years.2 REVENGEto make someone suffer for doing something wrong or unpleasantpay somebody back for something I’ll pay Jenny back for what she did to me! → pay→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
pay back• Did she think her father would bid for him, if he promised to pay Stanley back?• How can farmers and traders be sure of a pay - back?• Later, you can pay us back.• Some businessmen who benefited are paying Shishi back.• The djinn will always pay you back.• Was this his way of paying her back for trying to sneak Kirsty down to London?• He had to pay the money back from a lawful source.• He and Eng reasoned that box office receipts would help pay the way back to Los Angeles.pay somebody back for something• I daydream that I am going to pay my parents back for all the hardship I am causing them.• She would have liked to pay him back for his earlier tone by pretending a permanent disability.• If there is trouble for them they will find a way of paying me back for revealing their names.• I still haven't paid him back for the way he embarrassed me at the party.• I bet that you would demand money for this, to pay you back for this bet.• Was this his way of paying her back for trying to sneak Kirsty down to London?From Longman Business Dictionarypay somebody/something ↔ back phrasal verb [transitive] to give someone the money you owe themSYNREPAYThe salespeople working there made more than $40,000 before paying back over-claimed expenses.pay somebody back (something)Some investors say that if McCaw falters, it can sell assets to pay them back.Orion expects to pay Mr. Kluge back his original investment plus a return of 13% a year.pay something backguarantees on loans to foreign countries that are paid back in full → pay→ See Verb table 