pay-off

plural pay-offs · alternative payoff

1. A payment in full; the state of having been paid in full.

   At the current monthly payment level, it'll take 32 more months to reach pay-off.

2. A reward.

   What's the pay-off for putting up with her nonsense for ages on end?

3. A return on investment.

   How soon could we realistically expect any pay-off from loading up on shares of that company?

4. informalA bribe.

   The prison break never could have succeeded if it hadn't been for multiple pay-offs to various corrupt officers.

   1 more example

   Darlinghurst cops will get you/Clean and bright/Rich and white/See where pay-offs will get you

   1981 September, “Sex and Vice”, in Songs of the Gay Liberation Quire

   Synonyms: backhander, bribe, bung, payoff, coffee money, cold drink money, dash, douceur

5. colloquialespeciallyfictionA resolution or justification of an event that has already occurred.

   Where's the pay-off for that whole segment of the plot?

   2 more examples

   If there is a significant or surprising event in the story, it must be foreshadowed earlier on. When the event that was foreshadowed occurs, that's the payoff.

   2013, Heide Goody, Iain Grant, How to Write a Collaborative Novel, Pigeon Park Press, →ISBN

   In a surprising pay-off, [Michael] Moritz says he has applied for citizenship of Germany, the country where so many family members were murdered.

   2026 January 24, Richard Waters, “A displaced life”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 8

6. abbreviationellipsisball gamesEllipsis of payoff pitch.

   The bases are loaded, so he'd better make the pay-off count.