pay the price

pay the price

To experience the consequences of one's actions or misdeeds. If you get caught cheating on your exam, you'll have to pay the price—which could include expulsion. I sure paid the price for staying up late when I fell asleep at my desk in the library.

See also: pay, price

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

pay the price

 

1. Lit. to pay the price that is asked for goods or services.(Usually implying that the price is high.) If this is the quality of goods that you require, you will have to pay the price.

2. Fig. to suffer the consequences for doing something or risking something. Oh, my head! I am paying the price for drinking too much last night.

See also: pay, price

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

pay the ˈprice/ˈpenalty (for something/for doing something)

suffer as a result of bad luck, a mistake or something you have done: They’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past and now they’re paying the price. ♢ I’m really paying the penalty for all those late nights. I feel terrible today.

See also: pay, penalty, price

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

pay the price, to

To obtain one thing by sacrificing another, more valuable one. The idea is old, but this expression of it dates only from the late nineteenth century. President Woodrow Wilson used it in a speech in 1916: “There is a price which is too great to pay for peace, and that price can be put in one word: One cannot pay the price of self-respect.”

See also: pay, to

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer