pay a visit

verb

To visit.

Meanings

verbpay a visit (third-person singular simple present pays a visit, present participle paying a visit, simple past and past participle paid a visit)

present singular third person pays a visit · participle present paying a visit · participle past paid a visit · past paid a visit

  1. idiomaticTo visit.

    Brighton station is awash with people paying a visit to the seaside.

    2022 November 16, Paul Bigland, “From rural branches to high-speed arteries”, in RAIL, number 970, page 55
    2 more examples

    In the succeeding years I paid many more visits to Scotland; this was made easy even for those of modest means, by that wonderful institution, the "Inverness Tourist." For £3 one could get a ticket from London to Inverness and back with a wide choice of routes, […].

    1957 July 28, M. D. Greville, “A Diamond Jubilee of Railway Memories”, in Railway Magazine, page 496

    Some protesters say the constitution also gives too much power to the king, who paid a rare visit to Thailand on Thursday for ceremonies honouring his grandfather, Prince Mahidol Adulyadej. The king has spent most of his time in Europe since taking the throne nearly four years ago.

    2020 September 25, Reuters Staff, “Thai republican hashtag trends after constitution change delayed”, in Reuters, Reuters, retrieved 25 Sep 2020
  2. euphemisticidiomaticTo go to the toilet.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 參觀 /参观, 訪問 /访问
  • 參觀 /参观 (cānguān)to visit
  • 訪問 /访问 (fǎngwèn)to visit
  • 拜訪 /拜访 (bàifǎng)to visit
Dutch een bezoek brengen
  • een bezoek brengento visit
Esperanto viziti
  • vizitito visit
Finnish käydä kylässä, vierailla
  • käydä kylässäto visit
  • vieraillato visit
French rendre visite
  • rendre visiteto visit
German einen Besuch abstatten
  • einen Besuch abstattento visit
Polish składać wizytę, złożyć wizytę
  • składać wizytęto visit
  • złożyć wizytęto visit
Russian нанести́ визи́т
  • нанести́ визи́т (nanestí vizít)to visit
Tamil வருகைதா
  • வருகைதா (varukaitā)to visit
Cite this entry
APA

pay a visit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pay%20a%20visit

MLA

“pay a visit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pay%20a%20visit. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pay a visit,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pay%20a%20visit.

Source: pay a visit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.