Meanings
present singular third person buys and pays for · participle present buying and paying for · participle past bought and paid for · past bought and paid for
- To bribe or corrupt with money from special interests; to obtain by bribery.
The problem was, C.C. had a way of surrounding himself with people he'd bought and paid for, so I suppose you can't really blame him for being a bit confused.
2002, David L. Dukes, The First Black President Blues, →ISBN, page 872 more examples
I presume that the lobbyists of those interests who can afford to buy and pay for special privileges, will read with a great deal of glee that this is now the order of the day.
1952 October 12, Joseph M. Barr, “Letters to the Editor”, in The Pittsburgh Press"The Constitution has been eviscerated while Democrats have stood by with nary a whimper. It is gutless, unprincipled party, bought and paid for by the same interests that buy and pay for the Republican Party," wrote Anderson to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, denouncing his affiliation with the party.
2012 October 23, Gail Russell Chaddock, “The 'other' presidential debate: Third-party candidates make their cases”, in Christian Science Monitor
Origin
In the sense "bribe, corrupt", the verb is much rarer than and is probably a back-formation from the adjective bought and paid for.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
buy and pay for. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buy%20and%20pay%20for
“buy and pay for.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buy%20and%20pay%20for. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “buy and pay for,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buy%20and%20pay%20for.
Source: buy and pay for on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.